He Shoots, She Dances
by sayheyadancer
Summary: Gabriella Montez is a Junior in college at UCLA. She makes the Dance Squad, and immediately becomes the captain. What does she do when her exboyfriend transfers to her school, and becomes the captain of the basketball team?
1. UCLA

**Hey guys! It's me Amanda, and I have a new story for all of you! IF you already read this, I just went back and fixed all my errors!**

**Now, this story came to me just today but I felt an inspiration to type it up and post it today, so please review and tell me if ya guys like it:-)**

**So, if I update a story in a day, and I say I'm going to update another story that day, it may take a while, since my keyboard is being soo weird right now, since all throughout the day, certain keys keep not working, and then working again! Like, right now my 'y' key isn't working so I have to copy and paste each '' letter! Ugh…so sorry if I miss some letters!**

**Anyway...please don't say that this story sounds a lot like my other story, It's Great To See you….because it's not going to be at ALL. I'm not saying you guys would, it's just that this one is a lot different from my other story, so PLEASE read!**

**Summary: Gabriella Montez is a Junior in college at UCLA. She makes the Dance Squad, and immediately becomes the captain. What does she do when her ex-boyfriend transfers to her school, and becomes the captain of the basketball team?**

**So…I'm a dancer so I know all about this dance stuff, so that shouldn't be so hard! Haha, and I've been dancing since I was 4, and now I am 13…so…yeah. LOL.**

**PLEASE R&R!**

Gabriella Montez entered the old gym of UCLA, to try-out for UCLA's dance squad. She is a junior there, and has always loved to dance, so she took her opportunity to join the squad this year.

When she entered the gym, she saw lots of people there, including her best friends ever since High School; Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi. She smiled at them and walked over to where they were standing.

"Hey Gabi! I'm soo glad you're trying out this year!" Sharpay gushed as Gabriella giggled at her.

"Yeah, it'll be fun! I mean, if I make it, then, I'll be on the team with all of my besties!" She smiled as the all looked at her sweetly, and they all had a group hug.

"Okay….FUN'S OVER!" Coach Karson boomed, and the girls sighed as they sat down on the bleachers as the coach drabbled on before try-outs.

"As you all know, this is the try-outs for the dance squad of 2010-2011!" Coach Kason yelled out as all the girls clapped and cheered.

Once the cheering died down, Coach Karson started talking again. "Now, this year, the squad will be at it's BEST. No slacking off, and you will give100 percent, Especially the captain which will basically run the thing, and not me!" She said as she started laughing hysterically.

All the girls there, just stared at her, and looked at her weirdly. Coach Karson noticed this and cleared her throat, saying, "Okay…" Then she started to babble into the boring stuff. "Now, this squad will work hard, and give it's best. To be on the team, you have to have the moves, spirit, and technique. You also have to be A TEAM together. Like, a dance team united!" She said excitedly.

All the girls groaned, and then Coach Karson droned on into the academics, which made everyone groan more. Taylor leaned over to Gabriella and whispered,

"This is what it's like ever year, so get used to it!" Gabriella groaned and put her head back as Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi laughed at their friend, and then the turned back to Coach Karson.

"Now! Shall try-outs, begin?"

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Troy Bolton took a deep breath, before opening the door to the new gm, which were holding basketball try-outs for UCLA. He was nervous, because this was his first year here, for he transferred because his buddies, Chad, Jason, and Zeke, all went here along with a good friend Ran.

The all were still going out with their High School girlfriends, Taylor, Kelsi, and Sharpay. He hasn't heard from or spoken to his ex-girlfriend, Gabriella, for so long, since their well….not so fond of breakup at the end of senior year. All his best friends claim to not know, where in the world she is, so he just left it at that.

Troy walked into the gymnasium to find lots of guys shooting basketballs. He looked around and spotted his friends, and they saw him and waved at him to come over.

Troy nodded and walked over to his friends. Chad gave him the 'manly' handshake as he said, "Hey buddy! How's it going?"

Troy laughed and replied, "Pretty good. Nervous though" He blurted out, knowing that he had this nagging feeling that was trying to tell him something, that he should be read for.

Jason patted his friend on the back. "Hey man, don't worry. You are like the best EVER at basketball! You would probably get the captain position!"

The guys all agreed with him, as Troy smiled to himself, and dazed off to a dream place. The guys rolled their eyes, and lightly slapped him, to get him out of his 'zone'.

"Don't flatter yourself, too much, man!" Zeke laughed, as Troy chuckled. They heard a really loud whistle, which caused everyone to put their hands over their ears. "EVERONE, REPORT TO THIS LINE RIGHT NOW!" The Coach, Coach Douglas, boomed as he pointed down to a black line that went straight across, right in front of the bleachers.

All the guys hurried themselves over there as Coach Douglas broke out into speech, which made the guys groan. "Now, this team must put up all the efforts…"

_Blah blah blah. Why can't we just get these try-outs started? _Troy thought as he was startled by another loud whistle blown.

"Bolton, Troy! You are up FIRST!" The coach boomed, as Troy's eyes widened. The guys gave him a reassuring pat on the back, telling him to go up there.

Troy went up to the free throw line reluctantly, but when he was a handed a basketball, he took it and immediately felt the spark, as he stood on the line. He dribbled for a minute, and then took a deep breath, as he tried to make the shot. _Swoosh! _The basketball went through the net.

_Swoosh!_

_Swoosh!_

_Swoosh!_

_Swoosh!_

_Swoosh!_

_Swoosh!_

_Swoosh!_

_Swoosh!_

Troy made 9 in a row, and by that point, all the guys, were standing up, cheering for him. The next basket was the last one he would be able to hit for try-outs.

Troy took a deep breath, when he slowly put his fingers around the ball, and threw it towards the net.

_Swoosh!_

The guys on the bleachers, stomped their feet and cheered, as Troy just smiled to himself.

_He Shoot, He scores._

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"Montez, Gabriella!" Coach Karson called out, as Gabriella took a deep breath, and walked towards the middle of the gym floor, and the music came on.

_Come on Gabi. You can do this! Just focus, and break free! Wow…haven't said that in a while…but have confidence! _Gabriella thought to herself.

Gabriella started to do her dance moves, the routine they had to learn. Gabriella felt some sort of spark that was urging her to go on and get into it, so she did. She did her moves perfectly, and had swift, sharp, moves. She also did her spins perfectly, and had a really high kick, which also meant that she had all three splits down to the ground.

When Gabriella finished the routine, pumping her fists in the air, and smiling proudly, all the girls stood up and cheered for her, especially her best friends who were beaming at her and yelling the loudest.

Gabriella laughed as she took a seat and watched the rest of the try-outs.

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Coach Douglas appeared and yelled out, "BOLTON, TROY!" Troy stood up quickly and said, "Yes?"

"Congratulations! Welcome to the captain spot of UCLA's basketball team!"

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Coach Karson stepped towards all the girls, after try-outs and she was smiling very wide. "I am proud to introduce, the captain of this year's squad!"

The girls cheered and waited for a minute for Coach Karson to tell them who it was. "Montez, Gabriella?" She called out as Gabriella hesitantly asked softly, "Yes?"

Coach Karson smiled widely at her.

"Congratulations! Welcome to the captain spot of this year's UCLA Dance Squad!"

**There's m**y** first chapter of this story! Please review! Liked it, hated it? I don't care I just need **y**our opinion! Thanks guys!**

**PLEASE REVIEW:-)**


	2. Close Call

**HEY GUYS! So sorry it took me 2 weeks to update the 2nd chapter for this! I know that you guys are wanting to see how this story turns out! Anyway, enjoy please! And…**

**R&R!**

Gabriella walked to her first class ever for her junior year at UCLA. Her first class was Anatomy. She walked into class and was immediately greeted by her boyfriend, Jason Stewart.

"Hey babe" Jason said coolly as he gave Gabriella a quick peck on the cheek. She smiled at him. "Hey Jay!" She responded as she took a seat.

The bell rang and more college students came pouring in, including one certain guy, but she never seemed to take notice; and he didn't either.

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Chad was walking Taylor to class. "So Chad, how's basketball practice going?" Taylor asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Mmm…good" Chad replied plainly. Taylor gave him a quizzical look. "Who's the captain this year?" She asked curiously.

"Uhh…" Chad stuttered. _Oh crap! _He thought _She still doesn't know that Troy is back in town! Oh shoot…what do I do…_Chad froze up, and strained his brain, thinking of something to say.

"Chad?" Taylor asked, as Chad whipped his head nervously to her, "Did you hear me?" She asked a little confused. "Uh…no?" He asked. _Oh crap! What did I just ask?_

Taylor eyed her boyfriend. "Chad…" She warned, "What is it that you are not telling me?" She asked evilly.

Chad gulped. _Time to come clean _Chad thought as he sighed. "Okay, Troy is" He replied softly.

Taylor gave Chad an odd look. "Troy?" She asked, and Chad just nodded. "Troy who?" She continued, wanting to know who he meant. "Bolton…" Chad mumbled, closing his eyes, ready for Taylor's outburst.

Taylor's eyes immediately widened. "Troy…Troy _Bolton_?" She asked, making sure she heard correctly. Chad nodded his head.

Taylor's eyes immediately filled with anger. "CHAD DANFORTH!" She yelled out, causing some people around them to stare at them. "Babe…calm down" Chad explained calmly, not wanting to make a big scene.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? How am I supposed to be calm when Troy is back in town, better yet, no one but the basketball team knows, and OH just great, does _Gabriella _even know?" Taylor asked loudly.

"Uh…no, she doesn't" He replied, answering Taylor's last question. Taylor sighed angrily. "And why NOT? She has a right to know! I have a right to know!"

"Tay, listen. He doesn't know Gabriella's here either!" Chad explained quickly. _Oh crap Chad, what just came out of your mouth? _Chad mentally slapped himself.

"Great, it gets better!" Taylor exclaimed sarcastically as she threw her hands in the air, and then planted them on her forehead. "Chad….what have you gotten us into, huh?"

"Uh…something that could help for the better?" Chad asked, hoping he got it right. Taylor glared at him. "Oh come on! Chad! Gabriella has a boyfriend, and both Troy and Gabi don't know that the other even existed in the SAME school!" She exclaimed loudly.

Chad winced. "Sorry Tay" He mumbled. Taylor just sighed and grabbed his arm fiercely as they started to walk down campus again. "Let's just get to class" She said angrily.

_Ouch._

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Gabriella's professor was taking attendance. Mr. Calloway raised his hand to silence the class, and he said loudly, "Welcome students to the first day of my Anatomy class."

Everyone smiled and welcomed him back. "Now" He continued, "Before we start, let me take attendance real quick. Amber Anderson?" He started to call out names.

"Troy Bolton?" He called out, and Troy raised his hand. Gabriella, on the other hand, didn't here Troy's name because she was busy talking to Jason who was sitting next to her.

The professor called out a few more names before Gabriella's was called out. "Gabriella Montez?" He called out, as Gabriella raised her hand and smiled.

Again, Troy didn't hear Gabriella's name being called, due to the fact that, he was talking to a guy next to him, about the basketball team.

They both went through the whole class; only a few seats away from each other, but of course, they never noticed. The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Gabriella grabbed her tote bag and put it on her shoulder as she walked up to Jason.

"Hey, ready to go?" Jason asked as he packed all of his stuff, and took Gabriella's hand in hers. Gabriella grinned up at him. "Of course!" She said as they started kissing, right there in the middle of their class.

Troy noticed a couple making out and he just rolled his eyes. He saw that the girl had dark brown curls. He could only see the back of her, but he just sighed._ Great, another girl that reminds me of Gabriella from the back _He said to himself as he walked past the couple.

He took a closer look of the girl, and noticed something familiar about that girl. _Wow, I feel like I know her from somewhere? Could it be…nah _He thought as he walked out of the classroom.

As soon as Troy left, Jason and Gabriella stopped kissing and walked hand in hand out of the class.

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Taylor grabbed Chad's hand and practically towed him out of their last class. "Tay…where are we going?" He asked his girlfriend, out of breath from all that running.

"We're going to find Troy" Taylor said through gritted teeth. Chad sighed, "Well if you would stop running maybe I could tell you where he is!" He complained.

Taylor stopped running and grabbed onto his wrist tightly, which made Chad flinch and asked quickly, "Where is he?"

Chad let out a whistle. "Girl, you better calm down! By the way, he said that he might be in the gym right now" He explained, checking his watch to make sure.

"Well then, let's go!" Taylor exclaimed as she grabbed Chad's hand again and towed him towards the gym.

Chad sighed and followed along, as Taylor led him into the entrance of the gym. Once inside, they both saw Troy there shooting hoops. Taylor dropped Chad's hand and yelled out, "TROY!"

Troy stopped dribbling the ball and turned to see Taylor running towards him. He dropped the ball completely and held out his arms as she ran into him for a hug. "Hey Tay!" He replied.

Once Taylor pulled back she immediately asked a lot of questions. "Wow, where have you been all these years? Why didn't you keep in touch with us? Wait-did you keep in touch with Chad? You have to tell me EVERYTHING! Why didn't you tell me already by the way?"

Chad ran up and covered Taylor's mouth and turned to Troy and said, "Sorry man. You have to excuse her, she's a little over excited!"

Troy chuckled. "It's okay. But um…." He struggled, and looked at Chad with pleading eyes.

Chad understood and nodded at his best friend as he turned to Taylor. "Hey honey, why don't we go get some lunch, and come talk to Troy later okay?" He asked her as she sighed.

"Fine" She mumbled as she told Troy her goodbyes and both Chad and Taylor walked out of the gym.

Troy let out a low whistle as he shot another basket.

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Later that day, Taylor and Gabriella were talking in one of their classes. "I told you once Tay, Jason and I are doing GREAT! Why does it bother you so much?" Gabriella asked her best friend.

Taylor bit her lip. "Oh no reason, I just want to know the 411 on my best friend!" She covered herself up.

Gabriella just nodded, not knowing what to believe. Taylor sighed, "Fine! You caught me! I just think it's weird to have someone else in our group named Jason, I mean there's Jason Cross! Isn't that a little weird to you?"

"Uh no…"Gabriella said, a little weirded out by her best friend. "At least people know that it's me and Jason Stewart going out and not me and Jason Cross!"

Taylor just shrugged. Gabriella turned in her seat and looked at Taylor. "So Tay…anything new happen today?" Gabriella asked curiously.

"Uh…no" Taylor said quickly. Gabriella eyed her, but let it go. "Nothing at all?" Gabriella asked hopefully, desperately wanting something to talk about.

Taylor sighed deeply and turned to her friend and asked, "Are you going to make a habit out of this?" Gabriella giggled as the bell rang, signaling for class to start.

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That night, Taylor and Chad were sitting on Chad's couch in his dorm, watching a movie. "Hey Chad?" She asked him all of a sudden.

"Hm?" He replied, still watching the movie. Taylor sighed, "What are we going to do about Troy and Gabriella?" Chad turned to her and pressed pause on the TV. "Tay…what is there for us to do?"

Taylor groaned. "Oh come on, Chad! There must be SOMETHING we could do!" She exclaimed.

They both thought for a moment. "Got any ideas?" Chad asked her. Taylor shook her head, "Nope, you?" She asked. Chad shook his head too.

Suddenly, an idea triggered Taylor. "I've got an idea!" She said excitedly, as she grinned to herself. "What?" Chad asked curiously.

"Well…maybe they should meet….singing…" She said slowly, hoping Chad would catch on to what she was saying. "Huh?" He asked her, cocking his head to the right.

Taylor sighed. "I mean, during Gabriella's performance for the dance team, you guys are out there watching us at half time right?" She asked as Chad nodded, "Well okay then, we just need Troy to _notice _Gabriella singing. And then we'll let them catch up later!"

Chad sighed loudly. "Don't they hate each other now?"

**Ooohhh! Lol. Sorry, I had to stop there! Hopefully, I'll update asap, and that WON'T be 2 weeks from now! But no promises, okay?**

**PLEASE REVIEW! **


	3. Can You Smell The Tension?

**Hello guys! I LOVE you guys sooo much….42 reviews in 2 CHAPTERS? That is SO awesome! I have a feeling this is going to be a GREAT story, and PLEASE keep up with the reviews! Love ya'll!**

**PLEASE R&R! **

Taylor groaned. "Oh come on Chad, that is the reason we are trying to GET them back together! Ugh, you're SO slow!" She said angrily, a little stressed.

Chad looked at her contently and replied, "Baby, I think you need some rest, We'll talk about this tomorrow!" Taylor just nodded as she got up, "Yeah yeah…" She mumbled.

Chad sighed and shook his head. _Now…what are we going to do about…them? _He asked himself and just groaned, as he headed out Taylor's dorm.

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"Hello Taylor!" Gabriella exclaimed cheerfully, as she met her best friend, outside the coffee shop the next morning. "Morning Gabi…" Taylor trailed off, her mind somewhere else.

Gabriella gave Taylor a weird look. "Uh Taylor?" She asked, as Tyalor turned her head to her. "Huh?" She asked in a daze. "What's going on?" She asked her slowly.

Taylor sighed. "Nothing Gabi! But we should hurry up and get our coffee, before our brains totally fry! Didn't Professor Farnwell say that there was going to be a pop quiz today? Let's move girl!" She urged her.

Gabriella laughed and shook her head as she stepped up towards the counter, "Wow Tay. You haven't even had your coffee yet, and you're already hyper!" Both girls laughed, as they ordered their coffee.

They were both about to leave, when Chad, Jason, Zeke, and….Troy, came into the coffee shop. Taylor did a little gasp, and Gabriella asked, "What?"

"Uh…Gabi…let's just go" Taylor said quickly, hurrying to try and duck and cover. Gabriella looked at her weirdly, and yelped loudly when Taylor grabbed her by the arm, and started pulling her.

Troy looked over and saw a brown-haired girl(NOT facing him..sigh…) and saw Taylor and shouted, "Hey Taylor!"

Both Gabriella and Taylor slowly turned to look at Troy who was waving and smiling. Gabriella squinted her eyes, as the guy was all the way on the other side of the coffee shop.

Chad's eyes widened when he saw Gabriella and he just said quickly, "Uh…dude, I think Taylor needed to get to class early, so let's just get coffee."

Troy looked at him weirdly, but then just shrugged, as they all turned around again.

Taylor practically sighed in relief, when Troy and the rest of the guys turned around, and Gabriella turned to look at Taylor, confused. "Hey Tay….wasn't that Chad?" She asked her.

"Uh…no…" Taylor lied. Gabriella looked at her weirdly, and then looked back at Chad's bushy hair, and then turned back to Taylor and gave her a look, "Taylor that IS him! You could tell that, that was his bushy hair by a mile a way!" She joked.

"Yeah right…" Taylor said embarrassed, "Well we've got to get to class! Come on girl!" She squealed, pushing Gabriella quickly past the boys, and out the door.

Troy looked at the door, and then turned to Chad. "Hey, who was that girl with Taylor?" He asked him. "Umm…I don't know" Chad answered, even though inside…

He did know.

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"Hey babe!" Gabriella said, giving Jason a kiss, as they both sat down in their Anatomy's class again. Gabriella sighed. "What's wrong baby?" Jaosn asked her.

Gabriella just shrugged and looked down at her finger. On that was the promise ring that Jason had given her. For some reason…it didn't feel right.

"Nothing…" She replied, as Jason just shrugged and took his seat. The bell rang just that second, and kids came in all over again.

Troy came in, and sat down in the seat behind Gabriella. The final bell rang, and Professor Calloway came in, smiling brightly at the students. "Good morning, just let me take attendance!"

He started calling out names, and then he got to, "Troy Bolton?" Troy just raised his hand silently behind Gabriella, and the Professor nodded as he moved down the list.

Gabriella's head shot up when she heard that name. _Could it be…_She thought, but then shook her head. _Nah…_

"Gabriella Montez?" The professor called out, as Gabriella smiled and raised her hand and the professor nodded again, finishing the attendance.

Like Gabriella, that caught his attention also. "Holy crap…" He muttered to himself, causing the whole class to look at him, including Gabriella.

But Troy was looking away so she couldn't see his face. "Sorry…" He muttered, as the students laughed and Professor Calloway shouted, "Okay okay! Settle down class!"

Everyone settled down, but Troy didn't pay attention during the whole class. _What if it's really her? _He thought to himself, but shook that thought out of his head, _Nah…_

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Once Chad and Taylor got out of their class, she pulled him away. "Ow! Tay, why do you keep doing this?" He asked her, whining.

Taylor just sighed and rolled her eyes. "Gabriella came up and told me that see thought she heard Troy's name in her class and she was like, 'That's funny isn't it?'. Aw man, this is bad! That means they're in a class together!" She exclaimed.

Chad's eyes widened. "Holy…" He started, but Taylor quickly clamped a hand over his mouth, to get him to shut up.

"Chad!" She hissed, "This isn't funny!" Chad gave her an accusingly look. "I wasn't even laughing!" He protested, and Taylor groaned, as she grabbed his hand, and trailed him down the hallway.

She was about to speak again, when both Gabriella and Jason walked up, with their arms around each other. "Hey guys, what's up?" Gabriella asked cheerfully.

"Uh…nothing" Taylor stuttered. Gabriella raised her eyebrows at her friend. "Uh Taylor, you've been acting weird all day! Is something wrong?" She asked her curiously.

"Me? No….nothing is wrong! I'm perfectly fine! PERFECTLY fine! In fact, I think me and Chad are just going to lunch now, come on Chad!" She said quickly, trailing him off.

Gabriella just watched them go with a weird look, but then just shrugged. "So hon" Jason started, "Where should we go now?" He asked her mysteriously.

Gabriella giggled and kissed him. "Why don't we go back to my apartment?" She concludes, as Jason smiles and nods, as Gabriella interlaces their fingers and they started walking down the hallway together.

They passed by a guy with shaggy brown hair, and he watched them go by. _Is that the girl I've always been seeing? _Troy asked himself. But then he shook off THOSE thoughts,

_Nah._

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"Chad are, you sure this is a good idea? I mean, having them meet up again?" Taylor asked, with concern in her voice.

Chad sighed, "Yes Taylor. For the last time, IT WILL BE FINE. Now calm down will you?" He asked her, which just earned him a glare back.

They were both walking down the hallways again after lunch, when they saw Gabriella running up to them, and this time, she was by herself. "Oh my gosh guys! Guess what?" She frantically asked them.

"What?" Taylor asked, getting excited. Gabriella started squealing, "Jason asked me out on a date tonight!" She exclaimed.

Taylor and Chad just raised an eyebrow. "Uh Gabi? Don't you guys, like, always go on dates?" Chad asked her quizzically.

Gabriella just smacked his arm, "Not like this one, smart aleck! He said it was 'special'. Plus, he also said for me to dress like prom night dressy!" She explained to them.

Taylor bit her lip. _Oh crap…_She thought, _He better not be proposing! _"Uh Gabi? Can I talk to you alone for a sec?" She asked her best friend.

"Sure Tay!" Gabriella beamed, as Taylor gave Chad a quick kiss, and led Gabriella away from him. "Listen Gabi…do you have any idea what he is planning tonight?" She asked her slowly.

Gabriella just shrugged. "No…" She started, "But I'm excited to find out!" She squealed jumping up and down.

Taylor laughed faintly, and stopped Gabriella from jumping, as Gabriella stopped, and frowned at her best friend. "Tay….what's wrong?" She asked, now sensing something WAS wrong.

"Nothin…it's just that, what if he's proposing?" Taylor asked Gabriella. _Oh crap…did I just say that? _She asked herself.

Gabriella tilted her head. "I never thought of that…" She whispered. Taylor smiled, "Hey Gabi. Don't worry, it'll probably be a great night!" She added, putting in some encouraging words, even though she didn't want to say that.

Gabriella grinned at her, "Thanks Tay! I know I can always count on you!" She said, as she pulled Taylor into a hug.

"Yeah…" Taylor said faintly, as she looked up, and saw Troy coming over to Chad.

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"Hey man, what's up?" Troy asked Chad from behind, which startled him. "Wow, man didn't see you there!" Chad exclaimed, putting a hand over his heart.

Troy started cracking up. "Wow dude, you're getting more and more like Taylor every day!" He joked. Chad just rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah…" He mumbled.

Troy chuckled and looked over to where Chad was currently staring, towards Taylor and the 'mystery' girl. "hey, staring at Taylor again?" He asked him, almost cracking up.

Chad just hit him. "Dude, shut up, who's the one who needs to get a girlfriend?" He asked him. "Yeah, whatever…" Troy mumbled this time.

Chad just shook his head, and sighed as he looked from Gabi to Troy. "Hey Troy?" Chad asked his buddy, as he bit his lip, trying to figure out if he and Taylor were doing the right thing.

"Yeah?" Troy asked, looking at him. "I think…that um, Taylor wanted to talk to you!" He lied, making up an excuse for Troy to go over there.

"Okay, thanks Chad!" Troy exclaimed, patting his friend on the back, and walking over there. Chad bit his lip,

_I hope I did the right thing._

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Troy walked over and smiled at Taylor and the 'mystery' girl. "Hey ladies, Tay, Chad said you wanted to talk to me?" He told them.

Gabriella's eyes widened, as she practically gawked at Troy. Taylor looked at her best friend and pursed her lip,

_Yep. She knows…_

Gabriella got over her shock and immediately crossed her arms angrily, and through gritted teeth said, "Taylor…"

Troy turned to Gabriella and his eye's widened also, as he noticed that…the girl that was a mystery all week…was in fact, Gabriella Montez. His ex-girlfriend.

He saw that Gabriella was glaring darkly at him, so he decide to do the same. "Troy" Gabriella said coldy, looking him up and down.

"Gabriella…" Troy said the same, looking HER up and down. Taylor sighed, at the tension.

But someone at the wrong place, at the WRONG time, came up:

"Hey babe!"

**DUN DUN DUNNNNNN! Lol. Anyway, I have to go update another story, but I hoped you guys liked this chapter, as much as it seems you like this story so far! **

**Next Chapter: Well….you'll just have to wait and see! **

**PLEASE REVIEW! **


	4. Baby Come Back To Me

**A/N: **_Hey peoples! Haha, I know some of you have been waiting a long time for this chapter…I'm terribly sorry it's taking me a long time to get it up._

_But hey, it's up now right? Haha. Well…I guess I'll get started writing this story, lol. Hope you guys like it! Hearts 3 _

_**PLEASE R&R!!!!!!!!!!**_

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**Chapter 4: Baby Come Back To Me**

Troy's eyes widened as Jason quickly put an arm around Gabriella and kissed her cheek. "How are ya doing?" He asked her, smiling.

"Hey Jason…" Gabriella replied wearily.

Jason frowned at how Gabriella seemed a little uncomfortable, and as he felt someone's eyes on him, he turned his head to look at Troy, who was just gawking at him. "Uh, hello…who are you?" Jason asked.

"Uh Jason" Taylor stepped in, "This is uh, my good friend Troy Bolton."

Troy looked away as Jason looked from Gabriella to Troy and immediately narrowed his eyes. "Pleasure…" He replied slowly.

"Yeah" Troy replied rudely, before just walking off.

Gabriella watched him leave, and sighed loudly before unwrapping Jason's arm from her, and saying, "Jason, can I have some alone time with Taylor please? We really need to talk about stuff…"

"Yeah…sure" Jason replied hesitantly as Gabriella quickly pecked his lips and walked off, crooking Taylor with her arm. "Pick you up at 7!" He called after her.

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"Taylor Diane McKessie! How could you NOT tell me that Troy was coming…HERE!" Gabriella yelled loudly once they were both inside the girl's bathroom.

"Gabi please…" Taylor pleaded, pacing around the corridor of the bathroom. "I didn't even KNOW he was here until I saw him with Chad! I mean, he knew, but he didn't tell me!" She practically shouted.

Gabriella sighed. "I'm sorry Tay. It's just that-ugh, this totally screws up my PLAN!" She yelled, resting herself against the wall and slightly kicking the back of it with her shoe.

Taylor eyed Gabriella, "What plan?" She asked her curiously.

Gabriella's eyes shot open, because she had closed them, and quietly added, "My plan to get married and escape this world without Troy re-entering it again."

Taylor's face softened as she walked over to hug her best friend. "Oh Gabi…why do you always try to run away from your problems?" She asked her seriously.

Gabriella pulled away from Taylor. "What do you mean? I don't always run away from my problems!" She fought back. Taylor sighed as she grabbed Gabriella's shoulders, and guided her towards the mirror and faced her towards it.

"Come on Gabriella. Remember the callbacks back when you first moved to East High? Me and Chad had conducted that plan to break you and Troy up. And for awhile there, it worked. You just totally zoned yourself out from Troy, and wouldn't let him explain. Are you sure your not trying to run away from him…again?"

Gabriella's eyes immediately filled with tears, and almost as quickly as they had filled up, they burst out. "Oh Gabi…" Taylor said, touching Gabriella's shoulder lightly.

Gabriella wiped her eyes as she grabbed her make-up bag, and set it on the sink counter. She struggled to re-do her make-up, but all she ended up doing was flipping her back into the sink, all of her cosmetics pouring out of it.

She burst into tears, as she practically ran out of the bathroom, leaving Taylor all alone.

With quick thinking, Taylor pulled out her cellphone and dialed a familiar number as she went over to the sink, and started putting Gabriella's make-up back into her bag and zipping it up.

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Troy didn't know where to go from there. As soon as he left the scene where Gabriella's boyfriend arrived, he just glided passed Chad without a word, and headed out of the school.

The smell of the crisp air of fall filled his nostrils as he started walking on the sidewalks. He passed a whole bunch of college students along the way. Most of them were couples-holding hands as they talked about whatever came to mind.

Troy's eyes filled up with tears as he remembered that him and Gabriella used to do that…

_FLASHBACK_

_Senior Year-just before the break-up_

_Troy and Gabriella were taking a stroll on the same block that Gabriella lived on as Troy was walking her home from school._

_They were holding hands and walked in silence, just enjoying their time together. Out of the blue, Troy asked her, "Gabriella?"_

_Gabriella looked towards him. "Yeah Troy?" She asked back, giving his hand a squeeze, letting him know that her attention was on him._

"_How do you see yourself after college?" He asked her curiously, asking that random question as they always did when they were alone together._

_Gabriella smiled. "I see myself still with you. Hopefully. We'll be enjoying life, with all of our family and friends around us and supporting us. Maybe planning a wedding, you know, just enjoying life. What about you?"_

_Troy laughed and smiled. "Same as you. Although I hoped we'd get married right after college. I wouldn't wanna wait, because the only person I see myself with is you."_

_Gabriella smiled through her tears as Troy stopped walking and turned to her, and grabbed her other hand so he was holding both of her hands. "I love you Gabriella Montez: Always and Forever."_

_Gabriella sniffed, "I love you too, Troy Bolton: Always and Forever."_

_Troy grinned widely as he kissed her softly on the lips, all the electricity bolting through them, as if the kiss lasted for an eternity. Finally, they both pulled back for air, smiling so big, probably couldn't have been bigger._

"_Just like Kindergarten" They both breathed out softly, and laughed when they said the same thing. _

_Troy put their foreheads together. "We read each other's minds" He added softly. Gabriella giggled, "We always do."_

_Troy smiled as he leaned in for another kiss. After they parted, Troy let go of one of her hands, as they started walking down the street again._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

Troy had tears going down his cheeks as he remembered that memory. It seemed to be the most important one to him right now. He also had this nagging feeling that was telling him to do something with it.

But instead of thinking about what to do with the memory, he just sat there on a bench, crying his eyes out.

A few minutes later, someone came over and sat next to him on the bench. For a little while, that person just sat there on the bench, and let Troy cry.

Finally, Troy raised his head and looked at the person sitting next to him, which happened to be Chad. "You know crying isn't going to get you anywhere" He told him simply.

"Huh?" Troy replied, definitely confused.

Chad sighed as he stood up, about to walk away. "You were thinking about that memory again, weren't you?" He asked Troy, as he just turned his head away.

"I thought so" Chad continued, "If I were you, I would tell her how you feel. Before it's too late, and she goes and gets married to that Jason dude. But let me ask you this, what did you guys promise each other?"

Troy finally looked up at Chad, who was staring back at him intently. "Just think about it" Chad concluded, before turning and started walking away.

"You never TOLD me that she was going to be here you know…" Troy yelled after Chad, who paused suddenly and turned back to face Troy again. "I probably wouldn't have come if I would've known."

Chad sighed and walked toward Troy. "Yeah well that's just the one thing that you and Gabi have in common. You both try to run away from your problems" He told him as he sat down onto the bench, next to Troy.

Troy turned to him. "I don't" He sighed, "She does."

"Don't you dare turn this around on her Troy Bolton! You know very well that it was BOTH of your faults for you infamous senior year break-up. Besides…weren't you the one who ran far away without hardly telling anyone besides me?" Chad sighed as he told Troy that.

Troy gulped. "I'm sorry Chad. It's just that I…" Troy started but was cut off by Chad's cell phone ringing.

He took it out quickly and answered it when he saw Taylor's name pop up on the screen. "Yeah hon?" He said into the phone.

Troy listened intently as his friend paused for a moment, which must've meant that Taylor was speaking. Chad's eyes widened all of a sudden. "Oh no…where is she?" He asked Taylor into the phone.

"Okay okay, we'll go find her. Calm down. Yeah, I love you too. Buh bye" Chad said in the conversation before ending it.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked, as both he and Chad stood up. "It's Gabriella…" Chad hesitantly told him, "She ran off in tears from the bathroom, and she needs us to find her-that is, if you want to come."

Troy nodded, as both Chad and him bolted back into the school, and through the hallways of it.

"Let's split up. This college is pretty big, and she could be anywhere. You search the school and I'll go back to her dorm, okay?" Chad told Troy who just nodded as they both split up.

Troy carefully searched the hallways for a dark headed girl. He knows how well she could be hiding, because he knows her.

Troy practically searched the whole school when he stopped short. He came to a staircase, with a chain across it, but was taken down by someone, with a sign that read:

**Balcony Level. No Students ALLOWED.**

Troy looked around himself to make sure that no one was around him as he started up the stairs, and all the way up to the balcony.

He stopped and paused, when he heard the muffled sound of a girl crying. He gulped. _That was Gabriella_.

Once Troy had gotten all the way to the top, his mouth widened at the sight around him. It looked a lot like the one back at East High-only this wasn't High School. He finally tore his eyes from the scenery and onto Gabriella, who had her head turned away as she cried and gazed out at the view.

Troy sighed softly as he walked over to her slowly and sat down on the bench next to her. Gabriella turned her head quickly to look at him.

"What-what are you doing here?" Gabriella asked him, looking down.

Troy chuckled, "Well I see that there is another secret spot here….amazing scenery…" He said lamely, gazing out from the view.

"Yeah well, this is my secret spot, NOT yours. And I would greatly appreciate it if you'd leave. You're most definitely NOT welcome here" She snapped angrily back at him and turned around, crossing her arms.

Troy immediately stood up after hearing that. "Fine" He replied angrily, the mean guy back from their break-up coming back out in him, "But I came up here because I figured you WERE here. It's so peaceful. Oh by the way, go talk to Taylor. She's really worried about you. We ALL are" He finished before bursting down the stairs.

Gabriella just stared at the spot where Troy's once was, as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, struggling to keep the tears in.

_I have to go_ She said to herself, as she was reminded that she had a date with Jason that night, and didn't want him to see her like this. She stood up hesitantly and wiped her eyes as she made her way back down the stairs.

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Gabriella sat in her dorm room, after getting ready for her date with Jason. Thankfully, Taylor hadn't arrived home yet. Apparently Troy must've told her that he found her.

Gabriella sighed, when there was a knock on the door. She got up slowly and answered it, as Jason was waiting on the other side, with flowers. "Hey Gabi, you look beautiful" He smiled, handing her the flowers.

Gabriella giggled. "So do you" She nodded towards him, as she grabbed her purse and they were both off.

**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**

Later that night, Troy, Taylor, Chad, Jason, Kelsi, Sharpay, Zeke, and Ryan all sat around in Chad's dorm room, racking their brains with what to do about Gabriella.

"I hate seeing her like this" Sharpay sighed, as she grabbed another chip from the bag she had opened and popped it in her mouth.

"You guys obviously weren't there when she started yelling at me" Troy mumbled to everyone, as he took a long swig of his coke.

Chad immediately swiped the can of coke away from Troy. "Dude-that's the FOURTH coke you've had. Calm down a bit" He told him, patting him on the back.

Troy just sighed as Chad asked, "Hey dude, wanna go shoot some hoops?" Troy just glared at him, "NO" He replied back furiously.

Chad sighed angrily, "Oh come on Troy. It will help you take your mind off of you-know-who, besides, at this rate you won't be able to do your best at the first game tomorrow night!"

Troy just rolled his eyes. "Chad stop. I don't want to shoot hoops. I don't want to do ANYTHING. I just…" He started but couldn't continue, before resting his head backwards and groaning.

"Troy, why don't you go back to your dorm and get some rest?" Kelsi asked him softly, nodding towards the door.

Jason nodded, who was sitting right next to Kelsi with his arm around her, "Yeah dude. Go get some sleep. Maybe it will help you focus better, by the way, don't you have a class early in the morning?"

Troy groaned, getting up and making his way to the door. "Yeah yeah. Night you guys" He told them giving them a wave as they all said 'bye' and he shut the door behind him.

Taylor sighed. "We've got to do something about that boy" She told everyone as they quickly agreed.

"Wait, where's Gabi tonight?" Zeke asked curiously, as he thought that they had almost forgotten entirely about her.

Taylor sighed. "She's with Jason. On. A. Date." She told everyone slowly, with a roll of her eyes.

For awhile they all just sat in silence till Sharpay spoke up and asked everyone, "Anybody want a chip?" And with that, they all dove into the munchies and started back on their usual schedule.

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By the next afternoon, Troy and Gabriella still hadn't of crossed paths of each other, but it seemed very likely that they would now. At the game.

Gabriella and the rest of the dance team were in a separate room from everyone else, as they ran through their dance one last time, to Vanessa Anne Hudgen's new song, Baby Come Back To Me.

Gabriella clapped her hands together after they finished running through it. "That was good you guys. I think we are all set!" She said happily as she walked over to the stereo and was about to unplug it, when Taylor stopped her.

"Gabriella, before we go back out there, we want you to do something special for this game" She told her, looking back at everyone else who were just staring back at the two.

Taylor turned back to Gabriella, to see that she was giving her a confused look. "What do you want me to do?" She asked them curiously.

Sharpay walked over to them with a CD and popped open the CD player and switched Gabriella's CD with hers and pressed play.

Gabriella stepped back from the stereo, and prepared to study the music that was going to fill her ears. Baby Come Back To Me came back on, but this time, Vanessa wasn't singing it. It was more like a karaoke version of it.

What surprised Gabriella the most, was at the beginning, it said HER name instead of Vanessa's when the guy was talking and introducing her.

Gabriella shot a look towards Taylor, who just nodded towards the stereo. Finally, Gabriella put two and two together, and raised an eyebrow at Taylor. "You-you guys want me to SING it?"

They all nodded, and Gabriella practically gawked at them. "Are you guys absolutely KNUTZ? I haven't sang in such a long time, and most importantly why do you want me to sing it?" She practically shouted at them.

They all just shrugged, but then Kelsi pleaded, "Oh come on Gabriella. We think it would be a good addition to the half time show, plus, you are the best singer on the dance team! PLEASE do it!"

Gabriella sighed and looked up fearfully. "Gabriella, please?" Taylor pleaded, giving her the puppy dog eyes.

She groaned. "Oh no….not the puppy dog eyes!" She begged, squinting her eyes, so she wouldn't fall for it. But she was too weak. "Fine" She gave in as everyone squealed and gathered around her to give her a hug.

"But we must change the beginning" Taylor announced, as Gabriella quickly pulled Taylor away from the group.

"What do you mean, change the beginning? We have only 15 minutes till we have to be out there! We don't have time to change the dance NOW!" She practically screamed.

Taylor just smiled at her. "Relax Gabs, it's all under control. Come on out boys!" She yelled, whistling, as four men came out from behind the curtains and walked up to Gabriella.

Gabriella just eyed the guys. "What do we need them for?" She asked Taylor quizzically. Taylor grinned widely,

"For your lift."

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Back in the locker room, the game was just minutes to starting. But Troy wasn't feeling up to it, and was taking his slow time getting ready for it.

He heard the guys cheer, "GO UCLA!" As they had already started their pumping up session without him. Troy sighed, as he slid on his jersey and quickly ran over to them.

Chad immediately punched Troy in the arm. "Dude, where were you? The game starts in 1 MINUTE!" He yelled at him.

Troy squinted as Chad was yelling at him. "Sorry…I've just been-distracted" He ended, sighing to himself, and turning away from the group again.

Chad groaned as he walked over to Troy and grabbed both of his shoulders and gave him a little shake. "Come on man, focus! This is the first game!" He yelled, as they started to hear the announcer tell the team to make their way onto the court.

"Yeah…" Troy sighed as he ran out to the yelling crowd with Chad following right behind him.

Troy completely zoned himself out of the people that were all crowded around him. He wasn't listening to the cheerleaders cheering, the people in the stands yelling and jumping up and down, nor was he listening to his couch when the team huddled for a group meeting before they start the game.

He felt someone pushed him, and he looked up to see Chad glaring at him, and motioning for him to make his way onto the court. Troy sighed as he went to the middle and faced some guy from the other team, since he was the one who had to see who got the ball first.

The referee blew his whistle and threw the ball in the air, and with all his might, Troy tapped the ball into the direction of his teammates and the game was off.

**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**

It Was in the second quarter, and Gabriella just sat there, like no one noticed her as the rest of the dance team cheered on the basketball team.

She sighed, as she turned her head away from the game, slightly annoyed at the people around her that wouldn't stop yelling. "I would like some peace and quiet" She mumbled to herself, with the roll of her eyes.

Before she knew it, the half time buzzer had sounded and the UCLA fans were cheering like a madhouse. They were ahead by 6 points.

"Come on Gabi!" Taylor shouted over everyone as she pulled Gabriella up from the bench they were sitting on, and motioned for her to make her way onto the court.

Gabriella smiled brightly up at everyone and cheered a little bit before making her way to the middle of the court arena and standing still with her head down as the four guys and some of her dance teammates crowded around her.

The music started playing and Gabriella gulped as she turned on her microphone headset that she had attached to her head, and put the mic to her mouth.

get

_HaHa!  
You all need to get ready to hear  
The unbelievable,  
Indescribable   
Gabriella Montez._

_Baby G!_

_(Baby Come Back) _

Gabriella let the guys lift herself up into the air as she started singing.

_Everyday, I try to play, another game  
But my heart can't take it.  
I try to find, another boy,  
But all the while, I can't face it.  
Why do I miss you so much?  
I wanna stop this hurt inside  
Oh baby please, give us one more try_

Troy's head snapped towards Gabriella, as he saw her being lifted into the air, and put back down as she started walking forward. He couldn't believe it: she was singing.

As Gabriella sang, she took a top hat off of someone's head and put it on her head, as she moved her body from side to side.

_(Baby Come Back)_

I see you out with all your friends  
Laughin' it up as you pretend   
To have a good time, (good time)  
I know cause I'm living the same lie (same lie)  
So one of us has got to say  
We can't keep living the same way  
So I'll be the one  
Yeah I'll say it, I'll say it, I'll say it, I'll say it again

By this time, Gabriella had joined everyone in a V with her as the point, as they got down low and started doing some kick ball changes, turns, and just plain kicks all together. They all ended with them jumping around in a circle as Gabriella sang the chorus.

_Baby Come back to me   
In my heart I still believe  
We were meant to be…  
Together so whatever it takes (Baby Come Back)  
Baby come back to me  
I should have never set you free  
My baby  
Come back (Baby Come Back)_

Gabriella did a solo part which involved an axil, with a triple spin. The crowd went wild as Gabriella pumped her fist in the air at the end of the chorus and she made her way back to everyone.

_I wanna call, but then I stall,  
Cause after all, I just couldn't take it  
Cause if your play was to push me away  
You know that day, my heart you'd break it (Baby Come Back)  
I know we made a mistake, (I do)  
Can't you stop your foolish pride (Oh no)  
And come back to me  
Let's try, Let's try, Let's try, Let's try it again_

Things slowed down a little bit here as they all did a spin and twirled in the middle of the court. Troy watched her and laughed at this, reminding himself of the day of their callbacks.

The song went on with the whole dance team, twirling and not even caring what people thought, just as long as they had fun.

Troy watched form afar as Gabriella sang the ending, "Baby come back to me…" She snag softly, breathing heavily as the crowd erupted with applause.

Gabriella smiled widely as her and the rest of the dance team bowed to the crowd and waved vigorously to them.

"YEAH TAYLOR!" Chad yelled out, hollering as loud as he could, clapping his hands. Troy just chuckled and shook his head at his best friend but paused when he saw what was coming next.

Troy watched from afar as Jason suddenly came onto the court, taking Gabriella in his arms and spinning her around and around.

Gabriella laughed her head off as she smiled when Jason put her back down.

A tear trickled down Troy's face as he watched them interact with each other, slightly wishing that was him in Jason's position. Heck, he wished with all his might that, that would be him.

Chad watched his best buddy as Troy ran back into the locker room without a word to anyone.

_**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**_

_Awww. Poor Troy! Sorry I had to stop there, this chapter was getting perty long! Haha. Anyways, this is 12 pages! Sheesh, I've been writing long chapters all of a sudden! Lol…:-) _

_Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and the next one should be up soon!_

_**PLEASE REVIEW:-)**_


	5. The Importance Of Life

**A/N: **_Hello guys! How are you? I'm good, just ready to update this story again! Lol. Well wow, this is good, I have 86 reviews with only 4 chapters! You guys friggin rock, and I can't wait to get more reviews!_

_So yeah I'm sick right now so I made Gabriella sick in this chapter…haha. Okay then. I'll let you read! Get-R-Done! Cough cough I feel so crappy right now…_

_So just keep em' coming:-) Reviews I mean!_

_**PLEASE R&R!!!!!!!!**_

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**Chapter 5: The Importance Of Life**

"ACHU!!!!!" Gabriella sneezed out loud in front of everyone the next day during dance practice. They all just gave her a strange look.

"Gabriella….are you sick?" Taylor asked Gabriella, putting a hand on her forehead, feeling it burning up. Gabriella quickly slapped Taylor's hand away and glared at her,

"O I am ot!" Gabriella said weirdly, considering she couldn't even talk right and in English language she meant to say, 'No I am not'. But well, that didn't work out too well.

Taylor sighed and shook her head at her friend. "Gabriella yes you are. You've been coughing up a storm all this morning and now you can't even talk right…to the very least, you're voice sounds like you're someone who's been smoking for 50 years of her life!"

Gabriella looked at Taylor, very confused. "Am I really that old already?" She asked stupidly.

Everyone just groaned. "Nonsense" Sharpay cut in, stomping straight up to Gabriella and Taylor, "Gabriella you will go back to your dorm room, make yourself some hot tea and take some cough medicine, and lie down in solitary confinement until your nose is not stuffy anymore!" She snapped.

Sharpay pointed to the exit as Gabriella let out a huge, "ACHU!" Causing Sharpay to take a step back when some of Gabriella's germs got on her and added, "Ew. And please, grab like 10 boxes of tissues along the way…"

Gabriella just looked at everyone and nodded, clearly knowing she wasn't really welcome here anymore. At least-not till she got better. So she headed straight out the door, bumping into some of the basketball guys along the way. Most importantly Troy, who just glanced down at her worriedly when she looked pale.

"Uh are you okay?" He asked her, holding onto her arm, afraid she would fall any minute which at her condition she was likely to do so.

Gabriella nodded letting out an, "Oh yeah I'm fin-ACHU!" She sneezed, causing Troy to take a step back. "Thanks uh…Tim…Tom…Terry…" Gabriella started, trying to think of Troy's name which she couldn't at the moment because…well, she couldn't really think at all.

Troy gave her a REALLY weird look this time as he watched her struggle to find his name, "Trey…Trinity…" She continued before finally he just said, "Troy."

Gabriella's face lit up, "Yeah Troy. Goodb-ACHU! COUGH COUGH" She started sneezing and coughing in the middle of her sentence, and ran out the door with no word to anyone else.

Troy just stared blankly at the spot where Gabriella was just at. "Trinity?" He said out loud, as in repeat of when Gabriella was trying to figure out his name.

He finally just shook his head, as he went with the rest of the team to practice for the next basketball game.

**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**

Later that night, Taylor arrived back at her and Gabriella's dorm room, only to find Gabriella in a pile of tissues on the couch, watching the very end of _Titanic**(AN: My all time FAVORITE movie!)**_.

Taylor sighed as she put her keys on the counter and took her jacket off as she went over to Gabriella to take a good look at her. "Girl-you REALLY need to go to the doctor" Taylor insisted, as she sat down next to Gabriella and started picking up her tissues.

"DON'T DO THAT!" Gabriella screeched at Taylor who yelped and fell backwards onto the floor.

Gabriella gasped and put her hand over her mouth as she put the movie on pause and held out a hand to pull Taylor up with. "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry Taylor, I didn't mean to scare you!" She started rambling on and on.

Taylor just groaned and replied grouchily, "I'm fine. Just, would you mind telling me WHY you didn't want me to pick up your…um, 'used' tissues?" Taylor said disgustedly, flicking one off the couch so she could sit down.

Gabriella just looked at her like she was crazy. "Because you will get germs! DUH!" She exclaimed like a lunatic, rolling her eyes. "Besides, I'll pick them up" She told her, piling all of her tissues together and getting up to throw them away.

But unfortunately she didn't make it that far, and screamed as she fell down, dizzy from standing up after sitting down for 6 or 7 hours.

Taylor just stared down, wide-eyed at Gabriella who groaned, patting the back of her head which she hit. Taylor sighed, pulling Gabriella back up onto the couch and making her lie down. "Here just lie down-I'll take care of your…mess."

Gabriella sniffed, "But what about your-cough-germ-ACHU!" She started up again, causing Taylor to roll her eyes yet another time, this time refusing Gabriella as she picked up the tissues and threw them away.

She then walked back over to Gabriella and pressed play on the T.V. as _Titanic _resumed playing, "There. Watch your movie, while I make you some soup or something" Taylor told her, heading to the kitchen.

"Oh that won't be necessary" Gabriella started, "Because J…" She started but didn't get to finish because of Jason, Gabriella's boyfriend, just then bursting through the door with a thermos full of soup.

"Here we go my little angel! Drink up!" Jason said all giddily, causing Taylor to let a disgusted sound as she just headed up to the top of the stairs where she stood listening, just making sure he was trustworthy.

Gabriella gave Jason a weary smile, "Thanks Jason" She thanked him as he planted a kiss on her cheek.

He sat down beside her and stroked her hair, while occasionally turning to watch the movie with her, but usually snuck glances at her to make sure she was feeling better. He sighed, "Pumpkin you don't feel too well, do you? I'm sure running into that Troy guy today really didn't help did it?" He asked her, laughing at what he said.

"Huh?" Gabriella asked all stuffily, not hearing a word he just said.

But Taylor did.

She then came back down the stairs, pretending to smile. "Hey Jason, how'd you know that she ran into Troy today?" Taylor asked, as she peered into the refrigerator to look for something to eat.

Jason snapped his head towards her and just gaped. "Oh-hey Taylor…I didn't know you were here!" He said happily, giving her a smile.

Taylor just rolled her eyes. _Yeah right, I was here the whole time._

"Yeah, unfortunately…" Taylor added sarcastically, "But you still didn't answer my question…" She hinted, turning to give him the eye, before grabbing some juice and some sandwich meat out of the refrigerator and closing the door.

"Uh-well I was there at practice. You knew that!" He told her all 'duh' even though men clearly shouldn't do that, which almost caused Taylor to laugh out loud, and spill the juice she was pouring.

"I didn't see you there" She replied hastily, before sitting down at the table and starting to eat.

Jason just shrugged. "Maybe you just didn't see me. You seem to be really good at that when I'm around" He shot back, turning to Gabriella again who was just watching them with a 'what the heck' look.

"What the heck was that?" Gabriella asked him angrily, knowing that he shouldn't have said that to Taylor. Jason just shrugged, "Nothing sweet pea. Listen, I have to go now, but get better so you can come to class tomorrow" He told her giving her a quick peck on the lips and turning to leave the room.

Taylor glared coldly at him as he left, and once he was out the door she quickly turned to Gabriella and asked, "Are you feeling better?"

Gabriella just groaned and shrugged. "I don't know. It's just that whenever I'm around Jason lately, he's been really protective around me, especially when Troy's around" She confided, sighing and snuggling deeper down the couch.

Taylor let out a laugh as she came and sat down next to Gabriella on the couch. "Wow you actually know his name, this time!" She said sarcastically, as Gabriella just rolled her eyes.

"Yeah well I wasn't feeling too good this morning. But seriously, he follows me _everywhere! _I mean, he just proved that he was there this morning whenever I ran into Troy…heck, I don't even hardly remember it…just the part about not remembering his name…" She mumbled at the end.

That caused Taylor to laugh out loud. "Oh Gabriella, you're finally back. But anyway, really, how do you feel?" She asked, knowing that she really wanted to ask her about Troy.

Gabriella just glared at Taylor. "Better. But seriously, you must be joking to actually ask that question!" She told her, rolling her eyes again.

Taylor giggled. "So Gabriella…you haven't really said anything about Troy. Are you really okay? You seem to be really nerved between Jason and Troy…" She hinted, hopefully she brought up the subject nice enough.

"No Jason seems to be really nerved about the situation" She mumbled, as she clicked off the TV considering the movie just finished. "I hate that song" She mumbled again, referring to Celine Dion's song, "My Heart Will Go On" That plays during the credits of _Titanic_.

Taylor sighed. "Why?" She asked lazily.

Gabriella shrugged. "I never exactly knew why. It just gives me jitterbugs every time I hear it" She told Taylor, giving her an honest look.

They both just sat there in a weird silence for about 2 minutes into finally Gabriella sighed deeply. "Taylor-what should I do?" She groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead.

"About what?" Taylor asked, completely oblivious to anything.

Gabriella just glared at her best friend. " You know. About Jason! I can't just tell him to his face, you know, that he's getting on my nerves by always following me around. Even though it's INCREDIBLY freaky…" She drifted off.

"Why not?" Taylor shrugged, "It's not like he'll slap you or anything…will he?" Taylor asked, questioning her thought. Why didn't she think of this before?

To tell the truth, Gabriella hadn't really thought of it that much either. She just sat there in silence for a couple of minutes, with a blank look on her face. "Gabriella…" Taylor said, snapping her fingers in front of her face.

Gabriella snapped out of her thoughts, and gulped. "I never thought of that."

_Oh great Taylor. Now you've got her worried. Jeezus to the bone _Taylor thought as she quickly told Gabriella, "That doesn't mean it's true. I mean chill Gabriella, I'm sure it's not. He just proved he cares about you by bringing you some soup today, didn't he?"

Taylor immediately regretted her words, not wanting to encourage Gabriella to stay with him, but she knew that she didn't want her friend completely freaked out.

"Yeah I guess" Gabriella replied, sounding a little disappointed. They both sat there in silence again for a moment, then a question popped in Gabriella's head. She immediately sat up, and knew that this question would be serious to Taylor. "Tay…should I break up with Jason?"

Taylor's head snapped towards Gabriella. "What?" She asked her, trying to comprehend what she just said. Gabriella took a deep breath, "Should I break up with Jason?" She repeated more slowly.

Taylor just sat there and gaped at Gabriella for a moment. _Could it be…? _Taylor thought suspiciously, as she eyed her friend for any sign of emotion. None. Still that big blank face.

"Wow Gabi…I don't know. Do YOU want to break up with him?" She asked Gabriella who just sighed and sat backwards on the couch. "Just forget it" She mumbled before pressing the power button on the TV, causing images to reappear on it.

Taylor, on impulse, grabbed the remote out of her best friend's hand, and turned the TV off as she faced towards her. "Come on Gabi. Obviously you wouldn't have brought up the subject, if you weren't thinking about it."

Gabriella sighed. Taylor was right. _Gosh, why does she have to be so right all the time? But wait-why DO I want to break up with Jason? Wait, do I even want to?_

When Gabriella wasn't talking, Taylor decided to try again. Hopefully she'd get an answer this time. "Does this have anything to do with Troy?" She asked curiously. Hopefully she'll get an answer she wanted.

Gabriella's gaze steadily turned towards Taylor and she groaned. "Oh come on Tay, don't bring 'him' into this" Gabriella warned, as she looked away.

Taylor just shrugged, "Why not? I mean, I would understand if it did have anything to do with Troy. Considering your past, and considering it kind of allows you to be kind of awkward of the situation that he's here now" She explained.

"Yeah I know" Gabriella replied softly, "It's just. I don't know what to do anymore. About anything. I don't even know if I can talk to Troy anymore, I mean just as a friend. I also don't know whether or not Jason is the guy I want to be with. Oh gosh, what should I do Taylor?"

Taylor just gave her friend a small smile. "I'm sorry Gabriella. But only you can help yourself there. I can't tell you what to do or…who to love. But what I can tell you is that the importance of life is to not go on by what other people want: not what Troy wants, and not what Jason wants. What do YOU want?" She finished, before leaving Gabriella to think.

Really think.

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_Aw, yes. So yeah…that chapter wasn't pointless to me. It was probably the most meaningful chapter of this story yet. You know why? Because it's starting to get Gabriella to think about her life…MUAHAHAHA._

_So yeah, I PROMISE more Troy in the next chapter…:-)_

_**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!**_


	6. Is There A Reason?

**A/N: **_HOLA! Hehe. How are all of you? I'm good; can't wait to get this chapter up! AH this is so exciting…I love this story:-)_

_YES Christmas is in less than two weeks, BOO YAH, well hope you guys are having great holidays! Enjoy this FANTASTICALICIOUS chapter!!!_

_**PLEASE R&R!!!!**_

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**Chapter 6: Is There A Reason?**

Gabriella entered the gym the next day, cell phone in hand, as she finished up talking to her mother, and shut it off. She pushed her gym bag up on her shoulders, as she pushed the gym doors open, revealing the dance team.

"Gabriella!" Some of the members yelled out as they ran over to hug her. "How are you feeling?" A girl named Ashley asked her.

Gabriella just gave them a warm smile, "I'm better, thanks" Then she turned to Sharpay said, "Oh and Sharpay, thanks for knocking some sense into me yesterday and telling me to go home and get some rest; I feel great today!"

Sharpay gaped at Gabriella as she watched her best friend put her bag down and dig through it for something. "Wait-how'd you know that happened? I mean, yesterday you were so sick…you thought you were someone over 50 years old that had been smoking your whole life!" She teased, as her and the other girls giggled.

When Gabriella heard this, she spun around to face the girls who now had shut mouths and narrowed her eyes at Sharpay. "For your information, NO ONE can hide anything from me. So even if I'm out that day, doesn't mean that when I'm actually better I don't know what happened."

Gabriella smirked at Sharpay, as she brushed past her and onto the actual middle part of the gym floor. "Besides" She continued, "It's not like if you ever try to hide something from me, I won't ever find out anyway" She shrugged.

Sharpay huffed as she turned to face Gabriella, who had a dopey smile on her face, and put her hands on her hips. "We would NEVER do that! Nor take advantage of you!" She gasped, causing Gabriella to roll her eyes.

"I didn't say you would Sharpay" She said sarcastically, fixing her hair into a high ponytail.

"Oh!" Sharpay giggled happily, as she practically skipped over to wear Gabriella was standing. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's start this practice already!" She snapped.

Gabriella just laughed at her friend and shook her head. "You always amuse me Sharpay Evans…" She smiled, as Taylor laughed.

"Glad you're feeling better today Gabi" She told her pointedly as she nodded towards her roommate. "Thanks Tay."

Gabriella was about to press play on the sound system when she noticed a certain group of jocks sitting up at the top of the bleachers. Gabriella sighed as she put her hands on her hips and said to the basketball team,

"How come that every time we're in here practicing, you guys are in here too?"

They all just shrugged as Chad pointed out, "Well we weren't actually in here yesterday until AFTER you left" He said smartly.

But apparently not smart enough as Gabriella threw back, "Ah actually…you guys were coming in as I left. You see, told you that you can't keep a secret from me!" She crossed her arms knowing she won.

Chad just sat there stupidly, as Gabriella turned to Troy and said, "Oh yeah. And um Troy, uh…sorry for you know, calling you Trinity…" She said a little weirdly, as she laughed at herself.

Troy chuckled along with her. "Apology accepted Gabriella" He yelled from the top and smiled down at her as they stared at each other for a moment.

Gabriella finally shook her head, and broke her gaze as she turned around to talk to a few members of the team before starting practice.

As Gabriella had her back turned to the basketball team up at the top of the bleachers, Chad bent down and whispered to all of them, "Dudes, how in the _heck _does she know these things?"

"I heard that" Gabriella yelled up to the top, not even moving an inch.

Chad's eyes widened. "And how in the HECK did she hear that! I was whispering!" Chad hissed, causing Gabriella to sigh and turn around.

"I heard that too" She replied dully, very tired of having to say that. Even though it was only twice she actually did have to say it, it felt like it would be a lot more with Chad.

Chad's mouth was wide open, and he was about to speak again as Troy just held up his hand, "Dude, just stop talking. It's not useful on your behalf" He just shook his head, as he returned to looking down towards the dance team members.

Chad suddenly stood up and yelled, "GABRIELLA!"

Gabriella sighed and turned around again. She groaned, "What Chad?"

Chad smiled as he pointed to Troy, who had wide eyes wondering what his best friend was going to say, "Did you hear what Troy said?" He asked her curiously.

Gabriella just raised an eyebrow as she looked from Chad to Troy. "Uh no…" She replied weirdly.

Chad just gasped. "WHAT! YOU JUST HAPPEN TO HEAR EVERYTHING I SAY AND NOT WHAT MR. BASKETBALL STAR OVER HERE SAYS! I MEAN, COME ON, I'M SO NOT IMMATURE ABOUT THIS. AFTER ALL, I AM IN COLLEGE, AND YES I MAY BE A CUTE AFRO BOY WITH A BASKETBALL BUT…"

Chad could continue for days and days, as Gabriella kept checking her watch, silently tapping her foot as she was getting very annoyed with Chad. It was almost like he was talking to himself, and she just watched him with interest and raised eyebrows.

At one point, Gabriella even leaned over and said to Taylor, "I feel so sorry for you" And gave her a sad smile as Taylor just groaned and put her head on Gabriella's shoulder.

Troy sighed loudly as he stood up, slapped Chad across the head and sat back down. Finally that got Chad to shut up, and they were all able to return to the natural duties. Well, all except Chad who kept rubbing his forehead weirdly.

Gabriella giggled at the basketball team, as she finally was able to press play quickly on the machine, and a song by The Veronicas came on, "4ever".

She quickly got into her beginning position as the music blasted through her ears:

_Here we are so what you gonna do?  
Do I gotta spell it out for you?  
I can see that you got other plans for tonight  
But I don't really care  
Size me up you know I beat the best  
Tick tock no time to rest  
Let them say what their gonna say  
But tonight I just don't really care_

Gabriella really liked this song, so much that she actually started to sing softly to herself, allowing some of the people to hear her. One of the people that could hear her really well was Troy, who was just looking at her in amazement. _After 3 years, she still has it…_He thought to himself.

Gabriella returned to a V position in the dance, as the chorus to the song came on. The funny part was, all the moves here were from the triple win; when they danced to, We're All In This Together.

_Come on baby we ain't gonna live 4ever  
Let me show you all the things that we could do  
You know you wanna be together  
And I wanna spend the night with you  
Yeah, yeah with you, yeah, yeah  
Come with me tonight  
We could make the night last 4ever_

Troy immediately recognized the moves, and grinned widely to himself. _And after 3 years she still knows how to dance to it…_He thought silently.

He watched as Gabriella went through the whole rest of the song, most of the time looking directly up at him. At one time, she locked eyes with him, and wasn't able to tear her eyes away from him. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't, and that only made her sing louder and louder.

The whole dance team, and the basketball team were now watching Gabriella and Troy with interest as they had stopped dancing to watch Gabriella move and stare at Troy.

The basketball team were also having a hard time getting Troy to come back to them, as Troy had his eyes only locked on Gabriella, not even knowing that no one else was dancing with her.

Finally; Gabriella realized what she was doing and broke her gaze as she spun around, only to stop short to see everyone standing behind her with amused expressions on her face. "Uh…" Gabriella started weirdly, wondering why they all weren't dancing.

"Don't 'uh' us Gabriella! You know what you were doing!" Sharpay eyed her friend, putting her hands on her hips.

Gabriella just looked at them weirdly again, wondering what this was about. "Okay…" She told them, about to tell them to start the dance over again so they could get more practice.

But all of a sudden Kelsi waved everyone to follow her out of the gym, "Come on guys let's go. I think Gabriella wants to practice on her _own_" She tried to hint, really only using this as an excuse to leave Troy and Gabriella alone.

Kelsi gave Jason a signal from at top and he nodded, getting the message. He turned to everyone and said. "Come on, we can practice in the old gym. Except for you Troy. I uh, think you're better off practicing in here, bye!"

They all raced down the bleachers and out the door as Troy watched them with raised eyebrows, ever since they gave him that 'lame excuse'.

He then snorted slightly and shook his head. He started jogging down the bleachers, but stopped when he saw Gabriella standing down there, silently going through her mind all the steps, wondering is she had messed up big time and that's why everyone stopped dancing.

He cleared his throat, getting her attention, "Nice song" He smirked at her, "I uh-didn't know that I would inspire you so much" He told her, knowing very well that she was looking at him the whole time.

Gabriella just gave him a weird look. "Huh?" She asked him angrily, knowing that he had just been very rude indeed; and also mad because he was looking straight back at her the whole time.

Troy just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he leaned against the railing by the bleachers. "You know what I mean; you were looking at me so much, that you didn't even notice that your dance team members had stopped dancing because of it!"

Gabriella just narrowed her eyes at him. Now she was just plain furious. "If I remember correctly, you were staring back at me the whole time, so much that your basketball jocks couldn't get you to stop no matter HOW hard they tried!" She snapped at him.

"Well maybe the song got to me!" Troy replied back quickly, causing Gabriella to now be quite taken aback by him, "Jeeze Gabriella, I mean, is there a reason why you were singing, dancing, and looking at me the whole time?" He asked her, desperate for a truthful answer.

Gabriella opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't seem to get words out of her mouth. Why was she looking at him the whole time? Does that mean she still has feelings for him?

Gabriella shook that thought out of her head, as she thought of their nasty break up. Tears filled her eyes, just thinking about it. "Well if you are looking for a certain answer Troy, you won't get it; you left me, remember?" She snapped back softly, turning around with crossed arms so Troy couldn't see the tears in her eyes.

It was too late, because Troy already saw the sparkles of water in her eyes before she had turned around. His face softened a bit, "Gabriella I…"

"No Troy!" Gabriella fiercely cut him off, "Don't even start! I don't want to hear anything from you…just, just go…you, you jerk!" She yelled.

Troy sighed as he stepped closer and closer to Gabriella, finally resting his hand on her shoulder, causing her to twitch a bit, and whispering, "Gabriella…you don't mean that…"

Gabriella turned swiftly around, pushing Troy's arm off her shoulder. "Don't tell me what I do or do not believe, Troy!" She shouted angrily, as she kept her arms crossed and gave him a nasty glare.

Troy threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "Gabriella! Stop for a second will you please? I mean, if you weren't looking at me for a reason, then why were you looking at me at _all_?" He asked her curiously, really wanting an answer this time.

Gabriella bit her lip as she turned her head away from him. Truthfully, she didn't exactly know why she was looking at him. She knew for certain now that she hated him with a passion, but deep down, she thought there were still old feelings there.

"Why don't you tell _me _why you were looking at me then, if you're so interested in this topic of a conversation!" She yelled, really wanting to get the heat off her for a moment.

Troy groaned, not wanting to go here again. He watched as Gabriella came closer to him, curiously wondering if he was going to give her an answer and he replied, "I already told you! The song just got to me…that's it!"

"How much?" Gabriella asked plainly, arms still crossed.

Troy sighed in angry passion, and without knowing what he was doing, he walked quickly over to where Gabriella was standing, grabbed her shoulders, and kissed her on the lips.

He felt Gabriella's hands dropped to her sighed, knowing that she was in a state of shock, but relaxed more when he felt her soft lips rest on his own, and slowly reach up to touch his cheek. Troy then started walking around the place, Gabriella in front of him walking backwards, still not breaking the kiss.

Soon they were in a full blown make-out session, neither of them realizing what they were doing. Finally, when they needed a lot of air, Troy pulled back a little bit reluctantly, out of breath and looking down at Gabriella's who's eyes just opened.

For a second, Gabriella stared at him softly, but then her eyes widened. "Oh my…" She whispered to herself, thinking about what she just did. "I…I…" She continued not knowing what to say.

Troy just kept a firm hold on her, curiously waiting for her to say something. Hopefully something good. But she just shook her head, as she removed herself from Troy's arms.

"I have to go" She said quickly, and grabbed her gym back, running through the gym doors as quick as she could.

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_Oh my lanta! Hehe. I hoped you all liked this chapter. Don't think I'm going too fast with this story; I'm really not, there's still a lot more chapters to go :-)_

_I'll update soon, ya'll know what to do now! _

**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!**


	7. I'm Leaving

**A/N: **_YAY!!!! I FINALLY GET TO POST THIS CHAPTER!!! Hehe. I'm so excited-and I hope you all are too! And sorry for not posting sooner…I just couldn't find the time!_

_Are you ready for this? Please **R&R!!!**_

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**Chapter 7: **I'm Leaving

Gabriella wiped the last of her tears away, as she reached her and Taylor's dorm. She flung the door open, to see Taylor sitting there, watching television.

Gabriella just groaned, as she rushed to her room…and started flinging clothes everywhere. A few seconds later, Taylor arrived…giving Gabriella a confused look. "Gabi…what _are _you doing?"

"Going away" She muttered, as she started stuffing clothes into her suitcase.

Taylor's eyes widened. "Going away? What do you mean going away? Where ARE you going? And what about school…and the team? You can't just LEAVE!" She exclaimed, trying to figure out what was happening.

"I can…and I will!" Gabriella replied back harshly, as she ran into the bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush and any other bathroom appliances and stuffed them into the pockets of her suitcase.

Taylor just groaned, as she followed Gabriella back into her room. "Gabi…" She started in a softer tone, "Will you at least tell me what's going on?"

Gabriella glared at Taylor. "You should know what's going on; you didn't just _leave _Troy and I alone in the gym!" She yelled at her best friend, as she zipped up her suitcase and headed towards the front door.

Taylor ran in front of Gabriella and stopped her from heading out the front door. "Gabriella…just hold it a sec! What happened with you and Troy?" She asked, still wondering about a million questions.

"I don't have time to tell you right now…" Gabriella whispered, but then she looked Taylor directly in the eye, "Listen Tay. I can't explain it all…but I will. Soon enough, okay? And I'll be back before Friday, so I will be there for the game, and I don't even have a class till then, okay?"

Taylor paused for a moment…before hesitantly nodding. "Okay. But…be careful, will you?" She asked her friend, worried for her.

Gabriella smiled at her and gave her a quick hug. "I'll be back before you know it! Please run a GREAT practice for me, kay?" She asked her before pushing Taylor aside, and walking out the door.

Taylor just stared at the door where Gabriella just left. She only had one question:

_What just happened?_

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Troy threw the basket ball in the air, trying to make the shout. _Bang! _It hit the side rim of the net, throwing the ball off to the side and making small bouncing noises that got softer and softer.

He groaned as that was the 35th attempt of trying to make a basket, and he missed all of them. _Man, Gabriella is really messing with my head._

Troy heard a sound coming from the opening of the gym, and saw Chad coming towards him. "Hey dude" Chad greeted his best friend, but stopped when he saw Troy standing there like a dead man…when the ball was over at the other side of the court.

"Dude…is everything alright?" Chad asked his friend, concerned for him.

Troy turned to his best friend and glared at him, "Does it _look _like I'm alright?" He snapped at him, as he rubbed his forehead self consciously.

Chad held his hands up in surrender, "Sorry man. You just seem like really stressed. Like something HAPPENED between you and Gabriella….am I right?" He quizzed Troy, smirking at him.

"Now's not the time for your 'jokes' Chad…my life is so messed up right now…" Troy groaned, as he set himself down on the floor, and rested his hands over his eyes.

Chad sighed and sat cross-legged on the gym floor next to him. "Dude…what happened with you and Gabriella?" He asked curiously, knowing that Gabriella was the most obvious reason for him feeling so bad right now.

Troy looked over at Chad, and just as he was about to respond, someone ran in through the gym doors.

"CHAD! TROY!" Taylor called to them, as she ran over to them out of breath.

Troy immediately sat up, thinking something was really wrong. "Babe what's wrong?" He heard Chad ask her, but Taylor was just looking at Troy the whole time.

"Gabriella left" Taylor said plainly.

Troy looked at her confused. _Left? What the hell is she talking about? _Troy thought to himself as he asked aloud, "What do you mean she left, Taylor? Left where?"

Taylor crossed her arms uncomfortably. "Well-she wouldn't really tell me. And I don't know how much she would appreciate me telling you this but…here I go. Gabriella just ran inside of our dorm, and started throwing stuff in her suitcase, and she wouldn't answer any of my questions…but when she finally did, all she said was that she'll be back by the game Friday…and for us not to worry about her, that she needed to think apparently. I have no clue where she's going, and frankly, I'm worried."

Troy let out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. "Shit…" He cursed under his breath, as he looked back up at Taylor. "Did you follow her to see?"

Taylor shook her head. "No, because she told me not to. And-and I was being a good friend and just trying to help her out by doing what she said for me to do…to not worry."

By the time Taylor finished that sentence, she was almost in tears. Chad grabbed her and held her close as she cried, whispering soothing things into her ear to get her to calm down. "Calm down baby, it'll all be fine. We'll find Gabriella…don't you worry."

Troy nodded, exactly agreeing with Chad. "Look Tay…I know you promised her but…look, let's just say I really messed up. And-this whole thing is entirely my fault. I'll find her. Don't worry about that. Even if it takes me her whole trip I WILL find Gabriella Montez."

And with that, Troy ran out of the gym, getting ready to search for Gabriella.

Taylor stopped crying and looked over towards the gym doors, where Troy just ran out of. Chad sweetly kissed the top of Taylor's head and murmured, "Those two are so perfect for each other it's incredible."

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185…186…187. Gabriella paused in front of someone else's dorm room, and knocked on it slightly. She let out a huge breath, before the door cracked open and there appeared Jason, her boyfriend's face.

"Gabi! What a nice surprise! Come on in, babe" He exclaimed, letting her in.

Gabriella smiled slightly, as she stopped in his doorway. He eyed her luggage, and looked at her suspiciously, wondering if she cared to explain. "Look Jason…I can't explain everything right now…but I promise I will."

"Okay…" Jason replied, a little weirded out. "But where are you _going_?"

Gabriella pursed her lips as she looked around the room for a moment. She finally locked gazes with him again. "I need to get away. You know, clear my head for a few days."

Jason crossed his arms and eyed her again. "Are you sure about that?" He asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Jason…please don't try to tell me what to do…" Gabriella replied softly through gritted teeth. "I really just need your support here. I haven't told anybody else where I'm going, including Taylor, and for now, it's going to stay that way."

Jason sighed, as his face softened a bit. "Look Gabriella…lately I've been worried about you, okay? I mean-ever since that Troy guy came you've been acting all weird on me. Can't you at least tell _me _what's going on?"

"NO!" Gabriella yelled furiously at him. "Please DON'T bring Troy into this; it's…it's not even about him. Well I mean, I don't know. Just, give me some time to think."

"If you needed some time to think, then why'd you come over here?" Jason muttered under his breath, but unfortunately Gabriella overheard it.

"Excuse me?" She asked him in a rude voice. "Listen Jason, I really don't know what's going on with you lately but…it's getting really pathetic. Like, jealousy has taken over your body!"

Jason was furious by this time, "I'm only jealous because everyone can see clearly that Troy wants you! It's so damn obvious, it's about time that, you, Gabriella, need to realize it!"

Gabriella took a step back. She really wasn't expecting that reaction from him…but she realized by the actions that happened earlier, that probably was true. But she wasn't so sure what feelings she had for _anyone _at the moment.

"I know I know…" Gabriella replied softly, "I just. I just need to THINK, I mean, do you think this is easy for me? I mean-this is ME having to deal with all this anyway!"

Jason looked at her, almost as if he was heartbroken. "So are you saying that you have to just think about who you have more feelings for: me or Troy? Is that it?" He screamed at her, looking at her with saddened eyes.

Gabriella looked down, as she bit her lip. When she directed her eyes toward Jason again, he saw tears forming, and threatening to fall from them. "Just give me time, Jase" She told him, as she picked up her suitcase again, heading towards the door.

"Fine. Take some time, whatever, see if I really freaking care!" He yelled furiously, looking at her angrily.

Gabriella looked at Jason with sad eyes, and then burst into tears as she ran down the hallway, and away from Jason. Also, away from the rest of UCLA.

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_Why does my life have to be so complicated, God? I mean, these are two guys that both have had my heart at one point but…I'm not so sure who's won my heart now. When I'm with Troy I feel one way but…when I'm with Jason I feel like someone totally different. I feel like I'm in The Notebook; having to choose between my first love, and my love now. What do I do, God? I know people have told me to follow my heart but…I don't think my heart is enough advice in this situation. I'm in too deep._

Gabriella sat in the airport terminal, silently fiddling with her hands while thinking these thoughts. Tears were streaming down her cheek by thinking about the fights she had with both those men, and every once in a while, people would glance at Gabriella and feel sorry for her. She always hated that.

"Flight 456 to Albuquerque, New Mexico is now boarding."

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_OH WOWWWWW. LOL. That was actually quite sad for me to write. I tend to write a lot of fights and drama in my stories but hey…a story has to be interesting, right?_

_**Next Chapter: **Gabriella gets some advice from someone back in her hometown that just might help her decide what to do. Plus, Troy tries to search for Gabriella…running into Jason in the process. What will happen? Stay tuned!_

_**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!**_


	8. Return To Albuquerque

**A/N: **_Ello! I hope I'm updating faster-it kind of seems this way, I'm honestly trying as hard as I can. I honestly am, and please don't rush me too much because during the school year, my life's very busy._

_Well anyways, hope you guys like this chapter! I couldn't wait to write it! Whoo hoo!!! By the way, it's super long, and I'm so excited! You'll LOVE IT!!!_

_**PLEASE R&R!!!!**_

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**Chapter 8: **Return to Albuquerque

Gabriella's eyes were red, as she finally stepped in front of her destination. The two story house where she spent her "We're All In This Together" years. Surprisingly, the door flung open, and there stood Gabriella's mother, looking at her in shock.

"_Mija?_ What in the World…" She paused on the doorstep, as Gabriella ran up it and hugged her mother tightly, not really wanting to let go.

"Mom, I've missed you so much!" Gabriella muttered, trying not to let the tears fall, but they still ended up dripping onto her mother's now wet shirt.

"Honey, what's going on? And why are your eyes all red? Look at me!" Gabriella's mother demanded, as she held Gabriella by the shoulders, and examined her red eyes that were turning puffy as she let out more tears.

"Can we go inside and talk?" Gabriella whispered to her mom, who agreed without any hesitation, hurrying her daughter inside, and closing the door behind her.

Gabriella still knew the house, and immediately headed for the couch, as she got cozy on it, and laid her head down, restraining the tears, and just resting tiredly. Her mother sat down shakily in one of the rocking chairs next to her and gently touched Gabriella's curls,

"Sweetheart…please tell me what happened" Her mother told her soothingly, knowing something drove her to come here.

Gabriella sat there in silence for a moment, letting her mom stare at her in curiosity and impatience, wanting to know what was wrong. Willing to let her mom know now, she asked her a simple question, "Mom, have you ever felt like you were in The Notebook?"

Gabriella's mother, Maria, was taken aback by that statement. "Excuse me?"

Gabriella sighed and tried again, to get her mother to understand a little, "Have you ever felt like you were in The Notebook? You know, the movie. Like, you had two guys surrounding you…but you just don't know what to do, and feel like there's no one you can turn to?"

Maria's face softened, as she understood that this was the situation her daughter was in. "_Mija…_you can always turn to me. You KNOW that. Always."

Gabriella looked away murmuring, "Yeah, I know…"

Maria studied her daughter for a moment, then asked a question that had been lingering her as she sat back on the rocking chain and gently started swaying back and forth, "So, do you care to tell me who the guys are, and how it had come to this?"

Finally getting the courage to look at her mother, her reddened eyes turned away from the view on the couch, and directly looked towards her mother's face, which showed curious emotion. "Well…you know that I've been dating Jason…right?"

When her mom nodded and urged her to go on, she continued, "Well…everything was fine for us…until the new school year started. Apparently I was told that the basketball team had a new captain…but somehow Taylor sort of restrained me from seeing him at all…"

Maria glanced away for a moment, as her daughter let that sink in, and finally she pursed her lips as a thought crossed her mind, but she didn't say anything as she motioned for her to continue,

"And well, I finally discovered him…as the one and only Troy Bolton…" She paused for a moment, taking a peek at her mother who just nodded in understanding, as if she knew it had to be him, "And um…everything sort if played out like the movie. To make it a very long story short, I got in a fight with Troy…he kissed me, I surprisingly kissed back, but then I ran out, packed my stuff, and went to say goodbye for Jason for a few days, he yelled at me, we fought, and now I'm here."

Maria gaped at her daughter, already knowing that in that little information she gave her, her life's a complete wreck at the moment. "Oh my…" She gasped, putting a hand on her forehead, still swaying to the rocking chair.

"Yeah." Gabriella replied, showing no emotion as she looked the other way, and out the window. "I just don't know what to do…"

Maria shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she cleared her throat and asked a question that had been burning her mind, "Do you still love Troy?"

Gabriella felt her breath get caught inside her throat. She had never really thought about that. _She has a point. Why would I care so much about deciding which guy to chose if I didn't love him?_

"Yeah, I guess I do" Gabriella replied to her mom, now letting all her feelings confess out. "I mean, when I'm with him I feel like my whole world is stopped, and I feel like it's high school again. But I also love Jason…very much. And his jealousy lately is because of me, he's afraid of losing me, and he doesn't want to get hurt. But I do love him, I really do."

Maria just sat there in silence, knowing her daughter was telling the truth and this is how she really felt. "Well, Gabi…if you were looking for advice, you aren't getting very much" She told her daughter truthfully, it breaking her heart when she saw Gabriella look up at her, and almost felt guilty for saying that.

"Wh-what?" Gabriella started, not believing the words she was hearing out of her mother's mouth.

Gabriella's mother sighed, as she grabbed both of Gabriella's hands and looked at her seriously, "Gabi. I can't tell you who you should choose. No one can, but you. Troy can't, Jason can't, Taylor can't, and I also can't. It has to be you decision. All I can tell you is to follow your heart…it will tell you what's right. It may be hard to choose but…no one really cares WHO you choose, just as long as you're happy."

Gabriella choked up tears that came flowing back as her mother rubbed her back gently, "I can't mom" Gabriella sobbed into her mother's neck, "It's too hard. I just can't do this, it's NOT that simple!"

"_MIJA!" _Maria suddenly yelled at her daughter, grabbing both her shoulders like she had before, but this time adding a little shake to it. "You need to be calm. Maybe you should just go up to your room and think, everything's all the same as it was when you left."

Gabriella gazed up the stairs, longing to go take a peek at her old bedroom, but at the same time, felt her heart crashing down onto the pavement, HARD. "I can't go up there" Gabriella shook her head, wiping the tears from her eyes sniffling a bit, "It'll only hurt me more. I can't do this."

"It may help you" Maria sighed, moving from her place in the rocking chair and leaving her daughter alone in the living room, while heading into the kitchen to make dinner for them.

Gabriella sat on the couch, with her legs hugged up to her chest as she felt her eyes burn from all the tears she's let out. Looking across the room, she saw her reflection in the glass mirror hanging on the wall, and saw the red circles around her eyes.

_I have to _Gabriella told herself, leaping up from her spot on the couch, gracefully moving through the room, suddenly eager to find her way to her room as she made it up the steps one at a time, letting the memories sink in.

And she wasn't even in her room yet.

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Troy glanced up and down the corridors at the school, occasionally taking a peek inside classrooms to make sure Gabriella wasn't hiding in one of them, doing her homework, which was what she used to do when she wanted to be alone, in High School.

He sighed as he rounded a corner he had already been around, losing all hope of finding Gabriella at the school. She really meant it when she said she was leaving.

Not watching where he was going, he bumped into someone, and felt his self crash down onto the floor uncontrollably, ice falling onto him at the same time. Troy grunted as the ice pounded against his chest, and the pain immediately stopped short when he saw who it was that had bumped into him.

Jason was staring at Troy in shock as he held an empty ice bucket that he had just filled with ice, and watched as Troy struggled to move with the ice on top of him. "Here…" Jason spoke as he held out his hand for Troy to hold onto, to pull him it with it.

Troy eyed Jason for moment, before reluctantly letting him help him up, but when he knew he was on safe grounds, he brushed off all the reminder ice onto the floor, and then looked up at Jason, "Thanks."

Jason nodded as he took his bucket and began filling his bucket with ice again, now ignoring Troy's prescence.

Watching him for a moment, Troy suddenly felt the need to ask Jason about Gabriella. "Um…do you have any idea where Gabriella might be?" He asked Jason politely, clearing his throat sort of scared for the reply coming.

Jason sharply inhaled his breath as his glance turned to Troy. "No" He muttered, "She ran off on me."

Troy stared at Jason in confusion, "What do you mean she ran off on you? Did she tell you where she was going or did you guys…" He started but Jason cut him off,

"Look I don't know where she was going, okay? We got into a fight about you, she ran off on me, and now I have no clue where she is, you happy now?" He sighed, really not wanting to talk to the man that might try to take Gabriella away from him.

That shocked Troy, as he stood frozen to the spot he was at, not feeling the need to move. "Oh" Was all he could manage to get out, before he added, "Well okay then. Um, I'll just go now…" He finished, feeling the lump in his throat.

_Troy Bolton what have you gotten yourself into? _Troy asked himself, as he turned around the corner and away from Jason, but heard his name being called, "Troy!"

He recognized that voice as Jason's as he cautiously turned around, and rounded the corner again, seeing Jason standing there waiting for his presence again.

"She loves both of us, you know" Jason told him simply, crossing his arms and leaning against the ice machine, eating for a reply.

"No, she loves you. It's no use getting into a fight with her about me, because I don't want to be the cause of her pain. And I'm not going to be" Troy replied simply again, turning around to leave but stopped when he heard Jason continue,

"I couldn't choose who she fell in love with in High School, you know. She didn't even tell me she still had feelings for you, but I just _knew _it. Damn it, and I wish it wasn't true you know? But yeah how can _I _help. I'm just Jason, the guy she's supposedly in love with now" He sneered, the anger finally bolting out of inside of him, that had been lingering to come out.

Troy felt the rage throughout his body. _Who is this guy? _The back of Troy's mind asked, as he felt his knuckles tighten. But he finally released the pressure he had on them and just replied softly, "I'm sorry you feel that way", and then walked around the corner quickly.

He wanted to get away from him as soon as possible, avoiding a fight at all lengths.

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Gabriella opened the door to her room, hearing it creak immediately. She giggled, remembering she always hated that about it. She gasped as she opened the door widely, seeing a full glance at her old room.

The tears flooded Gabriella's eyes, as she blinked them back so she could gaze around the room. She walked along the walls of them, touching everything in sight. Her eyes landed on a jewelry box that had music play out of it when she opened it, the one her dad gave her just before he died.

As she continued on, she came face to face with a bulletin board in the corner of her room, old high school pictures on there. It settled on the wall, just next to her bed, and she sat down on her old sheets, as she gazed over each and every picture.

Coming across them she saw many old ones of her childhood: _Her father hugging her; a family photo of her, her mother, and father; Gabriella blowing out candles on her 5th birthday, and her rolling around in the sand on the beach, waving to her father who was enjoying the water._

Gabriella felt her eyes water as she moved onto pictures of her and friends: _One of the whole gang at Disney land one Summer; Everybody standing beside Gabriella at her 17th birthday party; her, Taylor, Kelsi, and Sharpay at Prom; Her and Taylor posed for a silly picture that they had taken at the mall; Chad stuffing his face with cake; Her and the girls lying back at a salon, with green masks on their faces and cucumbers on the eyes while getting their nails done; Her, Kelsi, and Troy while practicing for the musical; The whole gang posing at graduation, all with happy expressions on their faces._

Gabriella giggled at the last picture, remembering Sharpay begging everyone to go with her. She trailed her eyes along the board, but stopped as she found the photos of her and Troy. There were so many: _Gabriella was seated on Troy's lap as they smiled for the camera a Troy's house, both looking happier than ever; one of Troy and her dancing at prom, someone had captured the picture; one of Troy and her kissing on her balcony, her mom sneaked that in; Troy and Gabriella were both stuffing cake into each other's mouths at Gabriella's birthday; one of them after the Winter Musical; one of them hugging each other tightly at Graduation, both never wanting to let go; one at school where Troy was swinging Gabriella around, her laughing her head off; both of them waving down to the gang at Disney Land, while they saw them from the top of Splash Mountain; Both of them at the Ski Lodge, when they went back there their senior year; Gabriella and Troy studying on Gabriella's bed, both concentrating on the work, while Gabriella's mom snapped the picture; one of Troy kissing her on New Year's; and then one of Gabriella having her arms wrapped around Troy's waist, as he opened the present she gave him for his 18th birthday._

Gabriella burst into tears, as she just reminisced about how happy she was. The tears didn't stop flowing either, when she came to the last thing on the bulletin, a strip of photos from a photo booth that she had taken with Troy one day: _Her and him smiling at each other; one of them kissing; one of them making goofy faces; one with Gabriella on Troy's lap, both smiling; one of her kissing his cheek affectionately; one with Gabriella's head on Troy's shoulder tiredly, and his arms wrapped around her. _

Gabriella bit her lip as she remembered that day and walked away from the bulletin, her eyes slowly drifting all of her awards and achievements through the years: _Diploma, scholastic decathlon medals and ribbons, class valedictorian speech she made, her award for smartest in her class, her acceptance letter to UCLA, the musical program for Twinkle Town, and finally Troy's trophy from the championships after beating out West High, two weeks after Gabriella arrived._

Letting her fingers run over the name plate on the trophy, she felt the tears slip again. She remembered that Troy gave her his trophy right after the break-up, wanting her to have it.

She gazed away from the painful memories, and saw the glass sliding door across from her. It led to the balcony, where so many things took place at. _I'm not ready to go out there…not yet. I can't bear to see the tree Troy used to climb up each night when he snuck to my house…_

Something caught Gabriella's eyes, it had a red and white cover and it was plucked deep inside Gabriella's shelve of 20 million books, but somehow she said it clear and vividly. Realizing what it was, she ran over to it, clutching it in her hands and pulling it from the shelf, leaping onto the bed.

On the cover it read: **EAST HIGH WILDCATS 2008**

She recognized it as her Senior yearbook, and she open the pages and flipped through it, glancing at all the people she knew back then, suddenly longing to see them again.

She flipped through it quickly, hardly glancing at everything, but paused on the Couples page, and firstly saw a picture of her and Troy and homecoming, smiling for the picture. They were voted Prom King and Queen. She smiled at the memory, letting her fingers slide over the picture, and it read under it: _PROM KING AND QUEN: Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez. When we asked kids why they voted for them, they simply replied, "Because they're in love, like no one else."_

Gabriella choked in tears as she flipped through more pages, and finally came to her senior picture. She looked beautiful, her hair down naturally in brown curls, and light make-up on. Her face was glowing, and she felt as if the old self of her was an angel.

She flipped through more pages, remembering the Senior Musical they did, this time there were four main character parts so Sharpay and Ryan joined them, and remembering the Scholastic Decathlon.

She then came to a destination she had been hunting for: The basketball team. She saw their group picture, and then saw some photos of the team practicing or at games. Then there was a photo that came across her, it was a photo of Troy shooting th winning basket at one game, and there was something underneath it: _Troy Bolton scores the winning basket for the Wildcats at the game against Jefferson High back in January. He came and talked to the yearbook staff and when asked what made him thrive for their championships so much he said, "My girlfriend Gabriella. She supports me so much, and I love her for that."_

Gabriella eyes water and couldn't stand that yearbook anymore, now feeling the urge to just throw the book. Instead of doing that, she had one more thing she wanted to look at. She flipped to the very back of the book, where people had signed her yearbook, reading every single one of her friend's word to word:

_Gabriella,_

_Hey ya darling! Oh my gosh, can you believe we are GRADUATING? It seems like just yesterday you came to East High and saved me from being the Ice Queen. Thank you so much, for always believing in me, that I could become nice if I really set my mind to it. LOL. Yes, I may still have my moments, but I love you like NO OTHER friend does! If we don't keep in touch, my would will SHATTER. Well thanks for making my life a hell of a lot better these past few years, love ya! _

_Smooches,_

_Sharpay_

_--Gabriella_

_What's up my lil sis? Ha. Well, I really don't know what to say about you. You are just an incredible girl, and I'm lucky that I get to have another sis to look after(besides Sharpay, she's a little to much for me) but don't tell her I said that! Lol. Anyways, you have amazing talents that just swept the gang off the feet: your voice and your smarts. We all love you Gabriella, hope we keep in touch, because all these memories last FOREVER! _

_--Ryan_

_Gabi_

_Hey! Wow, I'm going to miss you so much after high school. I know we probably are going to the same college, because we talked about it, but it's still going to be SO much different from high school. You coming to East High, really let me break out of my shell and be myself. You and Troy taught me that, and I will always appreciate everything you've done for me. Because of you, I have a GREAT boyfriend, and super friends that I never imagined WOULD be my friends before you came. You truly are a gift Gabi. I hope you NEVER forget that!_

_Kelsi Nielson_

_Gabster-_

_How ya doing sis? Is Troy treating you well? He better or else I'll rip out his intestines…haha just kdding. I would never do that, hope I didn't freak you out just now! Lol. Anyways, we've had many great memories through the past couple of years, and our group of friends would NEVR be complete without you. Kelsi told me to tell you our appreciation. I am in love with Kelsi Nielson, and I am not afraid to show it! You helped me have the courage to ask her out. I hope you and Troy stay together forever…because you're love is stronger than ANYTHING. Now with that said, I bid you goodbye lil sis. Keep in touch! Love you_

_Jason C._

_To the G to the A to the B to the I_

_GABI! You make my day, just like a 20 cheese sandwiches do! I hope I made you laugh and shake your head saying, "Chad…" Ha. So…my little sister is finally graduating with the rest of us. You'll make a great valedictorian, and I can't tell you HOW MUCH I absolutely LOVED your help with school work. Before you came, I was always behind on homework, even in Pre-school(Don't laugh). But anyways, thank you so much. Taylor's coming up to me, so I'll have to quit writing in a minute…I think she wants to seduce me…Ah! Chad, why are you thinking such stupid things? Ha, just kidding about ALL of that up from Taylor's coming up to me and down. She isn't, actually. It's just my non-funny humor kicking in. Wow, this is getting long and I see that Troy hasn't signed your yearbook yet, so I'll leave him PLENTY of space! Good luck Gabster, I'll be seeing ya around:-)_

_To the C to the H to the A to the D_

_Gabriella_

_I hope you loved those fantastic cupcakes I baked you the other day! You told me they were delicious, but I decided to write you a little memory of cooking, so you can remember me by it! I know I know, I'm acting like we'll never see each other again, but it's just for just in case. Thank you, to you and Troy, for finally giving me the courage to let my secret out to the world! Now I can bake anytime! Love ya Gabs!_

_Zeke_

_Gabiiiii_

_Hon!!! Lol. You are my BEST FRIEND ever, and I can shout it all over the world! I'm so glad we're going to college together! I don't think I would be able to stand life without you…I couldn't even begin to describe it. It's like no life at all. We've had our ups and downs, and our share of fights, but in the end we're still best friends! Besides, it's all just High School :-) hehe. We had a GREAT senior year, and I still can't believe it's rounding to an end. One day, we'll all have to go to Disney World…we can compare how different it is from Disney Land! Haa. You're my best friend Gabriella Montez, always and forever! Love you so much!!!!_

_Taylorrrr_

_Gabriella_

_Wow. I'm actually sitting down somewhere by myself away from you and everyone else, because I needed some privacy to write in this. I'm not going to take all your space up that's left, because I know more people will sign you're yearbook, but I do see that I'm the last out of our group to sign, greaattt. Chad…how nice of him to give me some space so I can write…LOL. Anyways Gabriella, I have many things I could say to you, but it would take a million and one pages and seeing as you only have like 7, I'll have to cut it down. Long story short, you changed my life. For the best it ever COULD be. I'm no longer just basketball boy, like I used to be. I am now Freaky Callback Basketball Boy. :-) _

_You see, you are my WORLD. You COMPLETE my life. I never want to lose you, nor our memories we've shared. You mean so much to me, that I don't think I could ever get you to understand how much. I want you to look past the fact that I love you, and go deep inside. I want you to know how beautiful, amazing, and TALENTED you are. You show the world that you don't care what they think, and I love that about you. You have a free-spirited mind, and I also love that. I would do anything for you, and I'm a hundred percent sure you would do the same. I trust you with every fiber in my being…I love you._

_Now to wrap this up, I have to say that you, Gabriella Montez, are the most amazing, confusing, and beautiful girl I have ever known. And I hope it stays this way. In my mind, you were always be my Freaky Math Girl. :-) We still have to talk about college, but I don't care where I'm going…as long as my future includes you. I love you with all my heart and soul, and you better not leave me! Lol. Just kidding, I would just never even JOKE about leaving you._

_Love forever and always,_

_Troy Bolton_

Sobbing onto the yearbook, which was now soaking wet, she pushed it out of her view and cried for herself.

"Gabi! I made us some dinner! Please come downstairs and eat!" Maria shouted up from the bottom of the stairs, Gabriella reluctantly sitting up and wiping the tears off her face.

She struggled as she finally got up and left the room, wanting to stay far from the place. The memories hurt just too much.

_**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**_

_WHEEWWWW. I bet I know what you are all thinking. Is this like, 3 chapters in one? Haa. No really it's not, just a very LONG one. And trust me, the story isn't over, not even CLOSE. _

_I hope you all didn't want Jason and Troy fighting in this chapter. I didn't think we needed another fight, there's enough drama as it is!_

_I loved the memories section, and I hoped you all loved it too. Go onto my profile to see what's up next in the next chapter! Au revoir!_

_**PLEASE REVIEW, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO ME!!!**_


	9. Full Moon

**A/N: **_Hey guys! Sorry I've been kin of absent in the updating department lately. I've been dealing with a lot of stuff, on fan fiction and off. For off, I twisted my ankle yesterday, and now I'm sick, I caught it from like 20 billion other people around me. Yuck. Anyways, and on fan fiction, I am sad to say that I deleted my cast fictions. _

_But don't worry; if you guys are on the Zanessa forum I'm on(go to my page for the link of you want to sign up) I will most likely re-posting my story on there, in the fan fictions section. Just stop by, and I'll finish my stories that weren't completed! Trust me, I wouldn't just delete them like that on you guys._

_So anyways, that's my sorta reflection on the past weeks. Oh yeah; and I've had many random moments, Oh and I'm really sad. My competitions for dance are starting up real soon; and that singles out weekend updating. And so my updating will be VERY limited. But-if I stick around long enough for summer to roll by…I'm not exactly sure at the moment…then I'll make it up to you guys if my updating is limited, I promise! P.S. I am excited for dance competitions to start though…lol…cuz well I didn't exactly say that before._

_More news after the chapter is done with; my favorite story to write, right here! Yipee! Let's rock and roll!!!! _

_**PLEASE R&R!!!!**_

HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM

**Chapter 9: Full Moon**

Troy walked down the hallways of Carmichael Hall(**A/N: I really made that up, unless there is a Carmichael Hall in UCLA.) **not noticing that his palms were all sweaty, and he had subconsciously curled his fists into a ball.

_What am I doing? _He thought to himself, as he made his way outside into the winter air, breathing in and out, making his way towards the Starbucks he told Chad and Taylor to meet him at. _How the heck do I tell them about what happened with Jason, and how the heck do I try and find Gabriella?_

Walking into the entrance of Starbucks, he spotted Chad and Taylor sitting in a little booth in the corner, sipping their coffees, quietly chatting. He sighed, heading over to the counter and ordering a coffee himself.

Taking his cup to the back table where the couple sat, he flopped into the seat next to Chad, causing them to turn their attention on him. "Hi guys" Troy said glumly, as if he was on a death sentence.

Taylor and Chad exchanged quick worried glances before Taylor asked, "What's wrong, Troy?" In fear, wondering what had so suddenly turned his determination in finding Gabriella into a depression case.

"I ran into Jason" Troy replied plainly, still staring straight forward, keeping his eye on the wall, while taking a sip of his hot Starbucks.

"Whoa" Chad retorted, not knowing what to say to that, "And how'd that go, man?"

Troy shot his friend a glare, silently asking him, _How do you think it went?_, and Chad no further questioned what had happened after that. He knew it wasn't exactly good.

Taylor squeezed her eyes shut and asked quickly, "Did you guys get into it?" Not really wanting a bad answer, not knowing how Gabriella would respond to that. She knew she wouldn't want the two people that pained her to choose from, fighting over her.

"No no…" Troy quickly stated; Taylor breathing a sigh of relief, "Although he wasn't quite happy when I asked him if he knew where Gabi was…but you guys should know what I found out."

Curiously, Chad answered, "And that would be?"

Troy groaned hitting his head against the backboard of the booth, taking a quick sip of his coffee once more, "And that would be Gabriella and Jason fighting after she left the dorm, Taylor, when you said she ran off saying she needed a few days off from everything."

Taylor gasped, "You-you mean she got into it with Jason _after _you? Oh my…poor Gabriella. And me-I guess none of us made it exactly better on her…" She paused, lowering her head.

They all sat in silence for a moment, as they watched customers come in and out of the room, and people around the talking gingerly in a close chat, keeping it nice and friendly. Finally, Troy looked back and forth to Taylor and Chad, who were off in Outer Space, and said,

"Well then. Um, I guess I'll go. It's nighttime, and we got one more day till the game. We've got to find Gabriella."

"Troy don't" Taylor pleaded, as she saw him try to stand up and he slowly moved back into his seat, "What?" He asked, wondering why she wanted him to stay.

Taylor laughed nervously to herself, "Well no I mean you can still leave, but not until I say that…well…I think we should just leave Gabriella be. I mean, she'd be pretty mad if we tried to find her. And-like she told me, she'll be back for the game. I think this time it's only a matter of trust."

"Yeah but…" Troy started to protest, but Taylor quickly cut him off,

"You have to trust her, Troy."

Chad patted Troy on the should reassuringly, telling him in his mind that everything will be alright, and Troy finally sighed in defeat. "Alright, alright. I'll leave her be. But if she's not back by the game…I'm leaving and going to find her" He explained.

He left Taylor and Chad be by themselves, nodding a quick goodbye at the couple, and jotting out the door. The two watched him leave in depression, shaking their heads.

Chad turned to Taylor, "Tay?"

"Hm?" Taylor answered Chad back, finally tearing her gaze from the door where Troy just ran out of, and focused her attention on Chad. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Well" Chad heaved loudly, locking eyes fully with Taylor, "It's just that I still can't believe how Troy _ever _let Gabriella go the first time."

Taylor smiled weakly, taking a grasp to Chad's hand, and holding it affectionately in hers, softly rubbing her thumb back and forth on it.

"I can't believe it either Chad. I can't believe it either."

**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**

After dinner, Gabriella slowly trotted her way back up the stairs, rubbing her eyes tiredly. After the flight she had, and the fights she remembered from earlier this morning, she was pretty dang tired.

Opening the door into her room, Gabriella glanced around it, remembering what she had experienced earlier, before dinner; and her head slowly turned to the yearbook laying face down on her bed, where she had thrown it when she couldn't stand looking at it anymore.

Shakily, Gabriella padded across the floor, and lifted up the yearbook, and started walking towards the shelf, to put it back where she thought it belonged. After a few years, she still cared about her room being neat and organized.

Holding the yearbook in her hand sent a tingling sensation to bolt through her arm, and fill her whole body up. To her, it felt like all the memories, painful or not, kept flooding and flooding back to her. In the back of her mind, she could hear the faint voices of her and Troy, walking into her room after school to hang out, and then sometimes her mind would switch to their laughter from High School, ringing in her ears.

Gabriella shook her head, her eyes burning with tears, as she blinked them back. She bent down to the bottom row of the bookshelf, and placed the yearbook in the slot it came from and stood up quickly. The tingling sense had gone away, and she sighed in relief.

Turning around to face the balcony door, she could see the faint picture of a full moon, and she smiled briefly. Not even thinking what she was doing, she grabbed her jacket hanging in her closet, and made her way back to the balcony door.

Sliding it open quietly, hoping not to disturb her mother downstairs, she closed it quietly behind her, snaking her arms around her own body tightly, shivering in response to the late night cold. Gabriella gazed up at the stars and the full moon; breathing in the beautiful sight. She closed her eyes; picturing her wish, and quickly asked for it, before popping her eyes back open again.

It was only then when she realized that she was actually outside, on her balcony, where most nights she would end up with Troy. Gabriella froze in the spot she was in, letting the wind blow her hair into her face, blocking her from view of the moon. But she never noticed, and all she could think of was the laughter ringing somehow in her ears, but then Jason's laughter ringing through her other ear.

_Why is this happening? _Gabriella asked herself painfully, holding her ears tightly with her hands, really wanting to unclog her brain of thoughts. She just wished her brain was plain and simple; she just wished that it had the answers she desperately needed most, like what she should do with her life, or who she was going to end up with. And she just wished that her life could be easy…and she wouldn't have a harsh and painful memory in one single bone in her body. But it couldn't be that way.

She remembered a saying she had heard before, '_Listen to your heart. Always, the heart is the key. If you don't feel something's right, then it isn't.'_

Sighing, Gabriella just pulled the jacket around her tighter, thinking about the whole point of the movie, _The Notebook,_ was about. True love never ends. That was the saying for it; and Gabriella constantly replayed that saying over and over in her head. Her thoughts usually seemed to drift away to Troy…knowing fully well that he was her first love.

_Oh God, my first love _Gabriella thought deeply, knowing she had never thought that before. She knew that she probably shouldn't just take the easy way out, and do what Allie chose in the movie. She chose Noah, her first love. But Gabriella kept convincing herself that she shouldn't choose Troy; they broke up. She moved on.

Why couldn't she see that?

Switching her thoughts, Gabriella suddenly felt deeply intrigued by Jason; she pictured him and his dark hair, and gorgeous smile. But then her goofy grin turned into a frown, asking herself a question. _Is that all that ever attracted me to him in the first place? I mean, he's hot but…yeah he's pretty smart. And really nice and kind, oh I don't know. _Gabriella groaned and cursed herself inwardly for thinking such a thing. _Of course I love him for more than that; I wouldn't be stupid enough to question his love for me._

She remembered that she had some great times with Jason; he constantly took her to Starbucks mostly every morning, and they would just chat in a nice cozy booth by themselves, love struck. Sometimes, he liked to take her out to fancy dinners, to show how much he loves her, and she always felt very grateful to have such a wonderful boyfriend. Many timed during the night, they would end up on Jason's parents' boat out on the lake that they bought some time ago.

A giggle left Gabriella's lips, as she thought of the boat. It was pretty big; and she knew how classy it was. Jason's parents had always been very classy, and Jason always told her to dress nicely and elegantly for them. Gabriella wanted to try and impress Jason and his parents the best she could, and she did as she was told.

But inside, that was the one thing she hated about seeing Jason's parents a lot. Gabriella was only in college, and she didn't have many fancy things. She never liked them, and she always wanted to feel comfortable in her own clothes; most of the times she would go to classes throughout the day in sweats. But there hasn't been a time when she's been around Jason's parents that she got to dress like that. She always wore heels that gave her blisters, and skirts that felt sort of riding up in the, you-know-where area.

Overall, Gabriella didn't really think much of Jason's parents. She always thought that, if Jason felt she was good enough for him, that was all she needed. Now, she's not so sure. But besides that, she's been surprised how different he is than his parents. He has a good sense of humor, and he always leaves her wanting more jokes.

_What else? _Gabriella racked her brain, desperately needing something to think about Jason with. But before she could continue, she heard the sliding door open, and she whipped her head to find her mother standing there with her hands on her hips.

"_Mija_! Get inside here, it's freezing, and you don't need to get sick. You have a big important game in about a day that you need to be well for!" Maria beckoned, ushering her daughter inside, knowing fully well she had a game to dance out from Gabriella telling her at dinner.

Gabriella sighed, and flopped down onto her bed once inside, and her mom left her in peace, after saying a proper goodnight, and telling her she'd see her in the morning, and that if she needed anything, she knew where she was.

Her eyes drifted to a close, completely exhausted from the day she had. And if anyone were her, she knew that she was right.

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Troy sat up in his bed, his mind completely thinking about Gabriella; he wanted to know she was okay, and he just wanted to hold her in his arms, telling her everything were alright. But even if she were here, he knew he messed up a long time ago and there's no changing the past.

Groaning, he buried his pillow into her face, not wanting to think of that awful memory. From his bedroom window, he took a peek out from under his pillow, and saw the full moon, and grinned slightly.

Troy remembered that moon from High School, one time when Gabriella and him were looking at it. He closed his eyes and prayed that Gabriella was alright wherever she was, and hoping that maybe…just maybe,

She was looking at that same moon, too. And oddly enough, at that same moment, he felt that she was indeed looking at the moon also, and he just knew that wherever she was, that she was okay.

And that's all he ask, as he lied down in his bed and fell asleep for a good deserved rest.

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_I just had reread what I had written, and I have to say I feel really pleased about this chapter. I got a lot more explained on background information…and I really hope that you can see the complete difference between Troy and Jason. Hint: If you read closely enough, you should be able to tell suspected backgrounds of the characters._

_That's all I'm going to say :-) Anyways, I know it was just another chapter of thoughts and memories…but I felt it was an accomplishment if it was anything. In the next chapter, Gabriella returns to UCLA, so it won't be so boring anymore. Heh. But anyways, 1 more chapter till the big game! Hoot hoot. I have big plans, even though the stories not over after the game! No no no…not quite yet._

_Well I'm done with my 'sayings' for now. Adios!_

_**PLEASE REVIEW!!!**_


	10. Sometimes

**A/N: **_OH MY GOSH. MY DOCUMENT THING IS ACTUALLY WORKING!! Lol. I was getting really angry, cuz it wasn't letting me upload documents. Anyway, I haven't been busy that much actually, it's just that you don't know HOW MANY times I've redone this chapter. Practically so much it's starting to make me sick! Lol._

_Anyways, I'm running out of ideas, but I do wanna know your guys's ideas. I'm now thinking of ending this story in two more chapters; this one and the next one, at the game. Should I? _

_I hope you guys forgive me, and I hope you enjoy this chapter because it took me forever to do!_

_P.s. at the beginning, it's kind of weird, because Sharpay is being well, Sharpay. _

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**Chapter 10: **Sometimes

"Okay everyone!" Sharpay squeaked to the entire gym loudly; every one of the dancers paused what they were doing, and turned to Sharpay frightened. She was holding an umbrella for some odd reason, and stomping it into the ground like some crazy lunatic.

Even the basketball team, who were practicing warm-up exercises on the other end of the gym, stopped what they were doing to see what Sharpay was yelling about this time.

"Taylor has gone to pick up Gabriella at the airport!" She continued to rant, now pacing back and forth, said umbrella still in hand. "And until they arrive, _I _am in charge here!"

Groans echoed throughout the gymnasium, some heard from the basketball players. Sharpay cast a deathful glare over everyone in the room, which quickly shut them up, and the basketball men resumed to what they were doing.

Tapping the umbrella onto the floor all over again, Sharpay drabbled on and on again, boring the heck out of the dance team, who almost started to fall asleep on each other. "Now, today will be GREAT. The game is TONIGHT, so we will work hard…and exercise a lot and show Gabriella what this team can do!"

"Yeah…" Everyone grumbled, standing up and crossing their arms, but immediately perked up, when they noticed two ladies walking into the gym. "Yeah!" They all chorused, in relief to Gabriella and Taylor arriving. But of course, Sharpay thought that they were all happy to have practice.

Troy snapped his head, when he heard the gymnasium doors open, and soon enough they revealed Taylor and Gabriella. He smiled to himself, as he saw Gabriella for the first time in two days. And he was happy she was back.

"That's what I call a team!" Sharpay huffed, giving her stick one more stomp into the floor. "Now…I will split us up into two groups, so we can work on the dances and become better at our kicks and splits…"

Unaware of who was behind her, Sharpay droned on and on; Gabriella walking up to her with an amused look on her face. Crossing her arms, Gabriella stood right beside Sharpay, hearing the others stifle a giggle. Sharpay was still clueless as a duck.

"Sharpay…" Gabriella said in a sing song voice, but Sharpay went on as if she hadn't heard her. Gabriella sighed and tried again, "Sharpay!" She said impatiently, tapping her foot, it echoing throughout the gym.

"Okay guys we should be able to get to work! Let's have some spirit and…"

"SHARPAY!" Gabriella screeched, catching the full attention of everyone, especially Troy, who was trying not to laugh at Sharpay's dumbness.

Sharpay finally turned to Gabriella and gave her a quick smile, "Oh hey Gabriella! Now everyone, let's get into our groups. When I call your name…"

Gabriella's happiness to knowing Sharpay saw that she was there, quickly turned her smile into a frown when she was still oblivious that Gabriella was indeed back. Huffing loudly, Gabriella stood still, clacking her tongue and racking her brain with a plan.

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Gabriella's head as she cautiously walked to the other side of the gym and straight up to Troy. She heard him gulp nervously, and she could feel her blood running throughout her body. "Um…can I see that for a moment?" Gabriella asked him, gesturing to the basketball that lay in his hand.

Troy, still staring at her, immediately gave Gabriella the ball, wondering what she was going to do with it. She nodded a quick thanks at him, before turning around and heading towards the other side again. Curiously, Troy paid close attention to what she was doing.

"And…wait, are you guys following me?" Sharpay glared at the teammates, putting her hands on her hips, and cocking one hip to the side, not noticing Gabriella slowly creeping up from behind her, a devilish grin plastered on her face; ball in hand, "Well if you guys aren't going to listen, then I don't know what I should tell Gabi…OW!"

Gabriella threw the basketball at Sharpay's head from the back, causing her to stumble forward, and catch herself just before she fell. Everyone gasped, but then laughed when they saw Sharpay giving Gabriella an evil glare.

Gabriella stared back innocently; but it only took Sharpay a matter of moments to get over her anger, and a look of surprise came over her face, "Gabi! When did you get here?"

Raising her eyebrows, Gabriella replied in a monotone voice, "The World of Sharpay may never know." But Sharpay ignored that comment, and threw herself into her, giving her the biggest choking hug ever.

"Uh…Sharpay? It's a little hard to breathe!" Gabriella gasped, and Sharpay quickly released her grip.

"Oh. Sorry!" She apologized, before throwing her umbrella off into the stands, it landing with a thump.

Gabriella studied the umbrella curiously for a moment, before sliding over to Kelsi and whispering, "What was she doing with an umbrella?", Kelsi replying with only a shrug.

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella bent down to pick up the orange basketball that was close by her feet, and turned around, running to the other end of the court, giving Troy his ball back.

Troy greeted her with a smile, as he took the ball out of her shaking hands. "Um-well, thanks you know. For letting me use it. It came in h-handy!" She stuttered, managing to get it all out, before turning red.

Her face boiling with embarrassment, she ran all the way back, not caring if her face was getting flustered, and she was running herself out of breath.

Troy watched her every movement, as she heard her start practice, and suddenly felt Chad's hand placed upon his shoulder. "Give her some time, man."

All Troy could do was nod. He sighed, as he took the ball and swished it into the hoop once. Catching the ball as it fell out of the net, he watched Gabriella running over the dance with everyone.

Gabriella clapped her hands together, and smiled brightly, knowing that dancing was the only thing that was keeping her spirit up. _Okay Gabriella, focus on the dance. Do not focus on the fact that Troy Bolton is just a few yards away from you. Or that…_

Gabriella paused in her thoughts, and paused in the middle of her dance, as she watched Jason walk silently into the room. Gabriella felt her breath catch in her throat, as she eyed Jason as he made his way toward her, not making eye contact with anyone.

The entire gymnasium was silent, and you could no longer hear the basketballs bouncing off the ground and the sound echoing through the room.

Jason stepped in front of Gabriella, and she inhaled deeply, preparing herself for what he was going to say. "Gabriella?" Jason whispered in almost an in-audible voice, "Can we go and talk somewhere? Please? It's important…"

All Gabriella could do was nod numbly. Jason nodded his head at her, and turned around to head out of the gym, and Gabriella followed obediently. As she passed all of her fellow dancers, Gabriella quickly slid over to Taylor,

"Tay! You're in charge. Please, keep everything not…urm…awkward, please?" Gabriella pleaded and Taylor smiled and nodded in return. Gabriella threw her a grateful smile over her shoulder, as she ran after Jason to catch up with him.

Taylor knew what she meant by keeping things 'not awkward'. In other words, make sure that Troy doesn't feel like he's been stabbed in the heart. Taylor knows Gabriella, and she knows that she has a heart of gold for everyone, including her ex-boyfriend. She'd want him to be happy, not cry over her.

Sighing, she clapped her hands together and called out, "Okay come on guys! Let's do a run through!

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Once outside in the hallway, Jason stopped abruptly, and turned to Gabriella. She had a look of confusion written on her face, "Uh, why'd we stop? I thought you needed to talk to me?"

"I did need to talk to you, I just didn't need to go far to do it" Jason implied, and Gabriella's mouth formed an 'O' as Jason sighed sadly.

"Gabriella we really need to talk, and I don't want to keep you from your dance commitments, but it won't take long" Jason said quickly, turning away from her, and resting a hand on the wall.

Gabriella bit her lip. She didn't really like the sound of that, she'd heard it once before and she couldn't bear it if she heard it again. Gabriella closed her eyes, and prepared for like to take its toll on her, and give her what life thinks she deserved.

"Go on then" Gabriella gestured even though he couldn't see her, but she could see the rise and fall of his chest, as she figured he was trying to breathe steadily.

"Gabriella I…look. Let me just cut to the chase" He said, impatient with himself, but he finally turned around and showed Gabriella his face which showed no emotion at all.

"You and me; I thought it was good at the beginning. I mean Gabriella Montez you are an amazing girl…" Jason paused for a moment, and saw Gabriella react with a slight smile, but crossed her arms anyway, "But…I don't know. I don't feel a spark anymore, you know, the thing that was keeping us together. When Troy arrived, yes, I got jealous. But that was only because I couldn't accept the fact that we weren't meant to be together."

Jason now started pacing around the hallway, and Gabriella stood completely still; her arms were still crossed, and silent tears rolled onto the ground. "And Gabriella; I can see it in my eyes. You don't love me like I love you. No matter how much I love you, this is what I think was best."

Gabriella stopped crying altogether, and her head snapped up when Jason said those words. "Wait-so you mean you're letting me go, even though you still love me?" Gabriella asked, her head spinning with a million thoughts.

"Yeah I guess I am" Jason laughed slightly, but then went on to add, "I mean, sometimes when you care about someone you have to think of them before yourself."

It was happening all over again. Gabriella could feel her pulse speed up, and she felt like her heart was pumping a thousand times harder. It was like total déjà vu, and Gabriella couldn't stop it from happening.

_FLASHBACK_

"_So, you're breaking up with me because you've decided not to go to college with all of us?" Gabriella sobbed tearfully, back at age 17. Troy Bolton was standing in front of her, clutching the dresser of Gabriella's, as they were both in her room._

"_No Gabriella…well yes, but really, I'm doing what's best" Troy pleaded, trying to get her to understand. But she wasn't listening._

_Gabriella's anger boiled inside of her, and she suddenly stood up and walked over to her balcony door, looking out of it. "So you're just going to go to college somewhere else instead of UCLA, where you've been given a full basketball scholarship to?" She snapped back furiously, crossing her arms._

"_Gabriella you don't understand! Basketball isn't the only freakin thing in my life though! There are more things that matter to me, and different things I want to accomplish, and I'm not right for UCLA and you know it! And it wouldn't be fair for me to go off to Brown University and you come follow me, when you BELONG at UCLA! And it also wouldn't be fair to have a long distance relationship when we know it wouldn't work out!" Troy yelled, and Gabriella jumped. He had never yelled at her before._

_Troy saw how frightened she looked, and his face softened. He spoke earnestly, "Come on Gabriella…please…I want this to work. Us to work, but I just don't want you getting hurt. And I just know tha… that it will happen."_

_Gabriella watched as tears rolled down to the floor, and splashing onto the carpet. She crossed her arms, "So you're saying you do want us to work, but you know it can't? Troy this isn't fair; I love you for pete's sake! I can't just walk away!"_

_Troy felt tears well up in the eyes of his own, but he fought them back, "Gabrilla, please don't make this harder. I'm doing this for you. Sometimes…sometimes when you care about someone, you have to think of them before yourself. And ever since you came in my life, you've always been my #1 and you always will be."_

_Gabriella had tears in her eyes, as she felt Troy rest his thumb on her chin, and stroke it gently. She slapped his hand away, and moved over to the other side of the room. Hearing Troy sigh loudly, she turned around,_

"_This hurts Troy. It really hurts. I mean, I get my yearbook a week ago, and you don't even last that long keeping your promise" Gabriella said harshly, and walked out the door, and walked out of Troy's life._

_Later on that night, Gabriella returned to her room, only to find Troy gone, and his basketball championship trophy._

_END OF FLASHBACK_

Sometimes when you care about someone, you have to think of them before yourself. There it came again, those words, spoken like vomit to her. Jason studied Gabriella's face, which had gone pale, and she looked nauseas.

"Gabriella? Are you okay?" He asked, taking a step forward, which only made Gabriella come back to vision, and take a step backward.

"I'm fine" Gabriella snapped, but then added in a small voice, "So did we just break-up?"

Jason scratched the back of his neck, and let out a whistle. "Yeah I guess we did. But Gabi…I don't want this to be the end of us. Please, can we be friends? Or maybe we can try again someday?" He pleaded, and Gabriella could see in his eyes that he was trying to make it work so he didn't hurt her.

"Maybe" Gabriella shrugged, looking at her feet.

"Maybe to what?" Jason asked curiously, but eagerly at the same time.

Gabriella sighed, as she turned to head back into the gym; she paused as she grabbed the handlebars, and then turned to Jason, tears evident in her eyss, "Maybe to…I don't know Jason. I just don't know."

Jason watched Gabriella as she pushed open the doors loudly, and angrily, and he gulped. He'll always wonder if that was the right thing to do, but after he did it, he just doesn't know.

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Taylor and the rest of the group, were huddled together, talking quietly, when the doors to the gymnasium burst open noisily. She gasped, as she saw that tears blurred Gabriella's vision, and one silent tear was rolling down her cheek.

"I'll be right back" She whispered to the rest of the girls, who only nodded and kept silent, not sure what to do.

Troy's head snapped, and he dropped his basket ball when he saw Gabriella crying; the first thought on Troy's mind was, _what the hell did that guy do to her?_

Chad evidently saw how angered Troy was to go after Jason, but Chad put a hand on his shoulder yet again. Troy turned around to see Chad eyeing him, _Troy calm down._

Everybody watched as Taylor scurried over towards Gabriella, who hadn't gotten merely an inch away from the door, and Taylor already surrounded her. Grabbing her shoulders, Taylor whispered,

"Gabriella! What happened!", which made Gabriella look away and wipe the tears, knowing that her friends noticed that she was crying.

Sighing, Gabriella turned back to Taylor and studied her face for a moment, which was just desperate for answers. "Sometimes when you care about someone, you have to think about them before yourself" Gabriella finally whispered quietly, turning her head away again.

Taylor furrowed her eyebrow, and looked around the room, seeing everyone staring at them, and then she moved Gabriella away from the people. "What? Gabriella?" Taylor asked, clearly confused on how she was acting. She wasn't acting depressed, just acting like someone who needed answers herself.

"Taylor I'll tell you later" Gabriella said sternly, getting a nod back from her. She then looked at her best friend hopefully, "Can you please run the rest of practice? I'm not feeling well? And I know I've missed the last 3 days of it but…"

"Go" Taylor responded immediately, and Gabriella stopped rambling and looked at her gratefully, squeezing her arm lightly, before running out the door without another word.

Once gone, Taylor stood still, and Chad started running to where she was. Troy trailed after Chad, hoping to get some answers also.

"Taylor honey, are you okay?" Chad asked, gently placing an arm on her shoulder, the other arm occupied by a basket ball. Taylor watched as Troy came up to them, out of breath, and looked at Taylor desperately.

Taylor pursed her lips. "She wouldn't tell me anything. All she said was, 'Sometimes when you care about someone, you have to think of them before yourself'. Does that mean anything to you?" She asked, directing her question to Troy.

They all turned to him, and Troy had gone white. He now looked as pale as Gabriella did, as he too remembered those words. "Shit…" He mumbled, raking his fingers through his hair.

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_Okay I think that's a good enough stopping point! In fact, many things were done in this chapter; Gabriella and Jason broke up, the reason why Troy and Gabriella broke up was revealed, and most importantly the situation is now at Troy's feet._

_Can he do it? Come on, come on! Lol, just kidding. But I do want to know if you guys think I should end this story on the next chapter, at the game. Hmm…I think I will. I just don't see the point in going on any farther._

_Anyways, I really WANT to promise you that the next chapter will be up sooner, and I'll try my best! But I can't put it up till you review and tell me whether or not I should end this story on the next chapter :-)_

_**PLEASE REVIEW!!!!**_


	11. You Are Most Important

**A/N: 8 weeks left of school. And I swear this year has gone by REALLY fast. But everything's moving so quickly, I'm not sure how I'll keep up! Lol. Anyways, so so sorry for not updating this sooner. I know a lot of you have been waiting for this chapter(second to last!), but I had to make sure it was perfect.**

**And I really haven't had much time to type on the computer, because of school and dance. I had a competition over the weekend by the way, and one of my groups won! Yay! So with that finished, let's start this chapter, sha'll we?**

_**PLEASE R&R!!!!!**_

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**Chapter 11: **You Are Most Important

Gasping, Taylor searched in Troy's eyes for some reason to why he had cursed. Troy didn't seem to be giving out the answer, apparently more interested at looking at the ground instead of responding.

"Troy?" She asked hopefully, trying to figure out something. Chad reached his arm out to snake around Taylor and pull her close, using that as a reassurance to her.

When Troy decided not to respond again, Chad tried it himself, "Man? Are you…"

"I'm fine" Troy snapped in Chad's mid-sentence, not looking up. He seemed to be clenching his fists together, and in deep thought.

Taylor thought this was a good time to bow out, and leave the guys to talk, because she knew Chad could get more out of him than herself. Knowing she would be speaking to Chad later on, Taylor unwrapped herself from Chad's arms, and went to dismiss the dancers. There was already enough going on, and practicing didn't seem like such a good idea, especially with the captain missing.

Chad watched Taylor walk away, and realized she was going over to let the dancers leave. Once she was out of earshot, Chad turned to his best friend, "You need to explain."

Troy finally looked up at Chad's desperate and determined face. He sighed, he deserved to know, and he knew he was right. "All I know is...I don't think she has a boyfriend anymore."

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The carton of ice cream was right there. Sitting right in front of Gabriella in her dorm, was a carton of ice cream that she had gotten out. But she just couldn't pull herself to eat it, because she didn't think she was depressed. She thought she was just…coincidentally confused.

Taylor, at that moment, walked through the door, and saw Gabriella sitting at the counter staring at the ice cream. Raising one eyebrow, she quietly set her dance bag down and went to take a seat on the chair next to her.

Not feeling the vibe that she wanted to talk about what happened right now, Taylor casually started, "So…what are you doing?"

"Staring at this double chocolate chip carton of ice cream" Gabriella replied almost immediately, in a monotone voice.

"Why?" Taylor asked her curiously. She would have thought by now that Gabriella would have had half of it eaten, and the scene where Jack and Rose are 'flying' at the bow of ship would be playing on _Titanic_…with Gabriella sniffling here and then.

"I am because I'm not depressed! Just…" Gabriella sighed, "Coincidentally confused."

Taylor nodded, understanding completely. It's one of the many things that girls do; they say weird stuff, but thy immediately understand, no questions ask. She finally took a breath and put a hand on Gabriella's shoulder, "Want to talk about it?"

Gabriella shook her head, burying her face deep into her arms, not daring to look at the ice cream, as if she was trying to dig an even deeper hole into her life.

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"You said _what?_" Chad demanded to know after Troy told the whole story about their break-up. "So _you _said that? Then why was she saying it after she came in from talking to Jason? And why was she crying?!"

Everyone had already left the gym, giving the boys some privacy, and now Chad was pacing the entire court yelling at his best friend. Troy on the other hand, was sitting down on the bleachers with his hands joined together, rested on his knees.

"I told you, I think that Jason and Gabriella broke up! I mean that's where we ended at!" Troy angrily yelled back. Chad looked at Troy and gave him a 'don't start' look, which caused Troy to add in a smaller voice, "But for her crying…I wouldn't blame her."

Chad sighed and stopped pacing, gliding over to sit down on the bleachers next to him. Turning to him he said, "Troy you can't keep beating yourself up with this. Your break-up happened okay? But are you seriously worried about her…or about yourself?"

Troy sat in thought moving his right hand to slide over his face. He groaned, "Why does life have to be so hard? Why can't-why can't Gabi just forgive me so we can all move on… huh? Or why couldn't Gabi and I stay together? You know, I do believe God has a reason for all of this!"

"Troy…calm down…" Chad tried putting a hand on his shoulder, but Troy roughly shoved it off.

"I'm going for a walk…"

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Placing the carton of ice cream back in the freezer, Taylor froze when she heard her cell phone go off. Gabriella snapped up and watched as Taylor ran over to her dance bag, and fumbled for it. Opening it quickly, Taylor spoke, "Hello?"

Gabriella swiveled around in her chair at the counter and listened as Taylor spoke.

"_Tay…I'm pretty sure Gabriella and Jason broke up" _Chad's voice came over the phone. Taylor's eyes flew up to Gabi, and she immediately knew this conversation was about her.

"What? How'd you know that?" Taylor practically yelled into the phone, and Gabriella raised her eyebrows.

"_Troy told me. He said he knew why Gabriella said that little quote or line thingy, because he told her that right when they broke up" _Chad replied, and Taylor got easily confused.

"Wait, then what does that have to do with Gabriella and Jason?" Taylor asked to Chad, completely forgetting Gabriella was in the room…and not even glancing up, because if she would have, she would've seen Gabriella leave the room.

She heard Chad sigh on the other line, _"Tay…Troy thinks that Jason might've coincidentally said the same thing to her, and then broke up with her, just like Troy did. I don't even know where he is right now; I think he said something about going to the park."_

Then suddenly it all dawned on her. Why Gabriella had said she was 'coincidentally confused' instead of depressed. Why Troy had cursed and wouldn't speak to them when she told the boys the line. Why she just now realized, Gabriella had walked out in some point of the conversation.

"Chad…I'll, I'll call you back" Taylor said, in a voice that Chad knew she was going to say something to Gabriella. And at this point, he didn't mind one bit.

"_Okay call me back later…I love you" _Chad added, and as Taylor listened, she watched Gabriella come back into the room and heading for the door.

"Love you too. Bye" Taylor said quickly, turning off her phone and flopping it back into her dance bag. She felt guilty for saying that in front of her, because she had been with Chad forever, and Gabriella was still trying to figure out what love is.

"Who were you talking to?" Gabriella asked, and Taylor came back to reality, when she realized Gabriella was standing by the front door, coat in hand.

"Um…Chad" Taylor replied, her eyes drifting to Gabriella's coat, and then back to Gabriella. "Where are you going?" She asked disappointed, really wanting to talk to her now.

"To the park" Gabriella answered quickly then got to her point, "What were you and Chad talking about on the phone?"

"Um…" Taylor didn't know how to put it. She knew that Gabriella knew they were talking about her; and she knows Gabi, so she wouldn't leave until she got an answer. "Well…just about why you ran out so quickly today. You and Jason broke up…didn't you?"

Gabriella sighed and leaned against the doorframe. "Let me take a wild guess; Troy told you that. Am I right?" She asked, crossing her arms and looking away. She knew she was.

Taylor opened her mouth in shock, "Wh-how did you know?"

"Tay, I knew you were going to tell him. And I also knew he was going to guess that. So since I'm taking that as a yes, I'm going out for a walk. To clear my mind" Gabriella quickly stated, and then opened the door, "God knows I need it" She muttered under her breath and shutting the door behind her.

Taylor just stood there, dumbstruck. She felt like going after her, but once her hand was on the knob, she snatched it back. Gabriella needed some alone time, and that's what she was going to get.

_Besides_, Taylor thought while smirking, _Troy's going to be there, too._

**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**

Gabriella shuffled her feet onto the solid ground, stuffing her hands as far as they could go in her pockets. Looking down at her feet, and then up again, she sighed heavily in the freezing cold, watching the fall leaves slowly move in circles.

She spotted a bench, and walked over to it, sitting down. Gabriella looked all around and rested her eyes on the nearest playground. She saw tons of kids laughing and just having fun either on the swings or the monkey bars.

Smiling, Gabriella closed her eyes and rested herself onto the backboard of the bench. Just thinking to herself, Gabriella hadn't realized that someone had walked up to her.

"Hey" A familiar voice shook her eyes open, and they snapped up to look at a pair of blues eyes. _Troy…_

"Hi" Gabriella said in a small voice, and pursed her lips together. The brunette looked the other way, and she felt someone sit down beside her.

"Gabi…"

"You were right" Gabriella cut in, not looking in Troy's direction yet.

He gave her a confused look, even if it was just at the back of her head and said in a daze, "What are you talking about?"

Sighing, Gabriella finally turned around to look at Troy. She gasped at how close he was to her, although she suddenly felt warmer just sitting next to him. Whenever she was with Jason, she always felt she was farther away than Earth from him, even if they were sitting closer to each other than Troy and she were at the moment.

"I'm saying…" She finally started, looking straight into his eyes, "You were right. About everything you told Chad and Taylor…you were right." At this she turned in her position just to look straight forward. She could feel Troy's eyes on her, but she didn't dare to look.

Troy looked at the girl in front of him. Whenever they had connected eyes with each other, he felt like he couldn't breathe. They hadn't done that since high school, and he knew for certain this was the girl he needed to spend the rest of his life with. And he wasn't going to lose her again.

"You remembered…" Gabriella continued softly, almost a voice none audible by Troy. But it was Gabriella Montez and he could hear anything she said. "You remembered that you had said those exact words to me when we um…well, you were right anyways. Jason broke up with me…in a very similar way."

Troy felt as if he had just been stung. Punched…and even slapped at the same time. "Gabriella…" He breathed raking a hand through his hair, and turning to sit the exact way Gabriella was, "I'm so sorry. You know I didn't want to be right…"

Gabriella didn't respond; instead was looking straight forward at the children again. This scared Troy. He waited a few more seconds and when she still didn't say anything, he felt his heart break in two. There was now no chance in hell that she believed him.

Troy stood up, and began to walk off when he heard someone croak, "I know."

He turned around sharply, to see Gabriella starting to get up herself. He gulped as she neared closer to him, and felt himself shiver even though she wasn't touching him. But she was close enough he felt as if she was.

"I know you didn't want to be right. And…I'm sorry Troy" Gabriella said softly, hanging her head a bit. She bit her lip as she continued, "I'm sorry because of how I treated you when you got here. It was wrong of me, and I'm just…I'm just really sorry."

When Gabriella looked back up at him, he realized there were tears running down her cheeks. "When Jason broke up with me, it didn't hurt. Not one bit…it just felt like a relief was lifted off my shoulder. But with you…it hurt, Troy. Like stab in my heart hurt."

God, he didn't like seeing her crying. He stepped as close as he could to her and started wiping the tears away with his thumb. She stopped suddenly and breathed in deeply at the touch of his fingers on her cheek. Even after all the tears were gone, he rested his hand on her cheek.

"Gabriella…I'm so sorry. If I made any mistake, it was letting go of you. It was going off to a different school far, far away to play stupid basketball. You mean so, so much more to me than basketball, and you always will be. Gabriella…you ARE my world. And…if you think I'm letting you go again, you are crazy."

Gabriella was now crying all over again, and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face into his neck. Troy wrapped his arms around her small waist and pulled her as close as she could be to him.

They both stood there, hugging, while he listened to her cry. "I'm so sorry Troy. I really am…"

"I know…I know." Troy had replied into her hair, kissing her head a billion times. "But Gabriella…you are my most important…out of everything, and everyone" He whispered, holding onto her even tighter. This time, he knew they weren't ever going to let go.

Not ever again.

_**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**_

_Wow, I am done with this chapter. I'm sorry I just had to leave them there hugging…but aww, it's so darn cute to me. And only one more chapter left! Well actually two, because I've decided to do an epilogue. Trust me, it's going to be cute! But pretty short…_

_Anyways, next up is the big game. I have tons of stuff coming up so just wait!_

_So sorry again for the slow updates! Will update as soon as I can, thanks for waiting!_

_**PLEASE REVIEW:-)**_


	12. The Closure

**A/N: **_Hey guys! Sorry about my lack of updates, things are getting crazy right now! Anyways, I'm so sad because this is the final chapter before I do the epilogue. I've decided against doing a sequel because I'm just…well…not very good at it. Haha, and besides I have absolutely no ideas._

_Also this Summer I'm planning on making a one-shot companion to It's Girls Against Boys…if you read that story you most definitely want to read this new one-shot! So I just may write a companion to this story…but I don't know._

_Okay enough chit chat, on to the final chapter!_

_**PLEASE R&R!!!!!**_

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**Chapter : **A Closure

Later that night, Taylor paced around her apartment, slightly glancing at the clock from time to time. It has been about 3 hours since Gabriella left to go to the park and she still hadn't shown back up at their apartment.

All of a sudden Taylor heard a knock on the door, and she jogged to get the door, wondering who it could be at 8 O'clock at night. She opened the door to see Troy standing there smiling, with a fast asleep Gabriella in his arms.

"Hey" He whispered as he walked into the apartment quietly, not wanting to wake Gabriella.

"Hey…" Taylor whispered back, trailing off as she saw Troy's goofy grin on his face. "What happened…" Taylor asked as Troy stood there with Gabriella, not sure of what to do.

"I'll explain everything but…" Troy replied, but then looked uneasily down at Gabriella, trying to tell Taylor that his arms were growing heavy.

"Oh yeah! Around the corner to your left" Taylor explained as Troy nodded and left the room to put Gabriella down in her bed. After he had walked out of the room, she tiptoed after him and quietly watched from outside of the room as Troy put Gabriella down in her bed.

"Night Gabi…sweet dreams. I…I love you" Troy whispered, pulling the covers over her and kissing her forehead. He turned around and jumped slightly seeing Taylor standing there, her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. "Whoa! Scared me there…"

"Obviously…" Taylor snorted as they both walked back to the living room. They sat down, and Taylor quickly cut to the chase, "Okay Troy. What happened? One moment she walks out of the door saying she's going for a walk, and then 3 hours later she's in your arms?"

Troy chuckled softly and looked down at his hands. "Well…we sort of worked out our problems…" He said, not really wanting to get into the full details of their fight and make up in less than 5 minutes.

Taylor's eyes lit up immediately, and he knew what she was thinking. "Are you guys…" She started asking but he cut her off,

"No. We're not. Well not yet at least" Troy added, when he saw Taylor's very disappointed face. "Anyways, I'm pretty tired, and the games tomorrow. See you then" He told Taylor standing up and stretching to prove his point.

"Okay…bye Troy" Taylor called, as she let Troy out of their dorm. Once she closed it, she placed her back against it and drew out a long breath. "Whoa."

**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**

Bright and early the next morning, Taylor and Gabriella were getting a last minute practice in, due to Gabriella's absence. Sweat was already matted down to Gabriella's forehead, amazed at how much she had missed.

"Okay so remember when we turn to the left…then walk and turn, got it?" Taylor asked her best friend who nodded, and gulped down a swallow of her water.

"So let's go from the beginning" Gabriella announced, and Taylor just nodded as she pressed 'play' on the stereo. A mix of a whole bunch of different songs started to play and Gabriella began to bob her head to the music before busting out into moves.

Not knowing that in the middle of their dance the basketball team had walked into the gymnasium, Taylor and Gabriella kept dancing.

Troy stood against the wall, and smirked as he saw Gabriella twirl around to face him. She let out a short gasp, but kept on dancing. She bit her lip and gave a slight smile and a shake of the head, before turning a different direction.

"_So hot don't stop…keep on burning…tsk_" The ending of the music played, as Taylor and Gabriella hit their ending poses, with a smudge of attitude.

A sound of applause roared through the gym, as the basketball players stood up and walked over to the two girls. Gabriella heard Chad come over to Taylor and whisper to her, "That was amazing" but she wasn't really paying much attention since Troy was getting closer and closer to her.

She grinned as he stood in front of her, a smile tugging at his lips, "That was…wow."

Gabriella giggled, seeing Troy flushing with embarrassment, scratching his head slightly. "Thank you very much…now what are you doing here?" She asked him, putting her hands on her hips.

Troy shrugged. "Oh I don't know…I guess I just have a HUGE game today, and our coach just happened to tell us to practice in here…where he said no one else was ALLOWED in…" He said sarcastically, receiving a playful shove on the arm from Gabriella.

"Hey! In case you haven't noticed, I've kind of been absent in the rehearsing with the dancers!" Gabriella argued, making her point.

Troy just rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah…" He retorted, but then added in a whisper, "Boy did I notice…"

Gabriella did catch that though, and she just sighed as she looked down to the ground. Things stood awkward for them for the moment: Even though they confessed their love for each other yesterday at the park, they still hadn't gotten together. Nor had they kissed. Gabriella decided it was now or never,

"Troy…"

"Gabi! Can I talk to you for a second?" A sound was heard from the other end of the gym, and Gabriella snapped her head to see Jason heading towards them.

Gabriella looked at Troy, and saw something flash in his eyes. She nervously stood where she was, which just happened to be _extremely _close to Troy…her heart beating wildly.

Jason now stood in front of the two, seeing Gabriella looking at her feet. "Uh Gabriella?" Jason added, sounding as if he really needed to talk to her.

Gabriella nodded, and her eyes slid discreetly over to Troy's for a moment as she sent him a look of apology. Jason turned and headed the other way to lead her away from everyone else, and Gabriella followed close behind.

Troy watched their every move. If he saw just a hint of a tear well up in Gabriella's eye, the guy was going to get it.

"So…" Gabriella asked once they were away from every, "What's this all about?"

Jason sighed as he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away. Gabriella noticed this as something Troy does all the time, "Well. It's just that we broke up yesterday, and I just wanted to come and make sure you were alright. But seeing you and Troy…it sure looks like it."

Gabriella giggled for a moment, as she glanced quickly over to Troy who was watching them like a hawk. She noticed Chad come up behind him, and hit him over the head with the basketball to get his attention. All Troy did was swap it away, and then kick Chad in the shin all in the same process.

She finally sighed, and tucked a hair behind her ear. "Yeah…I'm perfectly fine with it. Is there anything else?" She asked, raising an eyebrow sensing that there was something else un-discussed.

"Well you see…" Jason started, finally looking back at her. He seemed to struggle with his words, "Yesterday I felt like I said something that really bothered you. I figured that it wasn't the fact that I broke up with you. Is there anything else going on?"

Gabriella felt like laughing. She absolutely remembered everything. _Sometimes when you loved someone, you had to think of them before yourself _She silently reminded herself in her head.

"Yeah…it's not important anymore" Gabriella answered, her eyes sliding over to Troy's as they locked, "Not at all."

Jason saw the look they gave each other and pursed his lips. He knew that look they gave each other, and Jason knew it was over between them for good. "Well then I'm good. Anyways…could we still be, you know, friends?" He asked hopefully.

Gabriella turned back to Jason and smiled warmly. "I would most definitely like that."

Jason grinned back, and he stepped closer to her and pulled her into a friendly hug. She hugged back, and then sighed as they released. "So I'll see you around?" She told him and he nodded back,

"You will. I'll talk to you later, Gabi" He said, kissing her cheek lightly. Not even a moment after, he had turned on his heel and strode out of the gym, feeling like a humongous weight lifted off his shoulders.

Gabriella felt the exact same way, and grinned knowing that chapter of her life was officially closed. She turned away from the spot she was at, and made her way back to Troy who was still staring at her.

The brown haired girl smirked, as she reached Troy again. "Is something interesting about me, Bolton?" She laughed, crossing her arms.

Troy locked eyes with her and grinned, as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Everything…" He murmured ever so lightly, his eyes twinkling down at her.

She giggled famously, and stood on her tip-toes toward Troy's face. He leaned in too, and they were just centimeters away from locking lips, knowing that this was what they both wanted. But of course…

"Hey, lovebirds!" Chad yelled, springing Troy and Gabriella apart from each other, both groaning at the irony. "As much as this is probably the cutest moment you two have had in like, ever…" Chad started up again, sounding like a Valley Girl, receiving snorts from the pair, "but I believe Troy has basketball practice to attend to. Come on, Captain!"

Taylor puts her head in her hands. "Seriously Chad, I don't know how you do it! Couldn't you just wait until AFTER the kiss?" She asked her dumbfounded boyfriend, wondering where he got off at.

They all laughed, knowing the kiss would just have to wait for another time.

**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**

Later that night, the game was in full blast, and cheers were raging throughout the entire UCLA gym. Gabriella and the rest of the dance team were standing up and cheering loudly, knowing they were in the final seconds of the game.

The dance team had performed tremendously, receiving a huge roaring of applause from everyone. Troy came up to Gabriella afterwards, giving her a huge sweaty hug, congratulating her. He had leaned in to kiss her, but she pushed his mouth away, saying that it would have to wait until later. That received a huge pout from Troy, and a smirking Gabriella walking away as she told him to do his best.

And indeed he was. It was ironic that it was coming down to the final buzzer, deciding which team was going to win, the same that had happened during that Championship game in his sophomore year at East High. The other team was ahead by 2 points, and Troy had the ball with 7 seconds to go.

He bolted down the court, and he could distinctively hear Gabriela cheering for him to move it with the ball. Troy smiled, knowing that she would support him no matter what, and decided he would do this for Gabriella.

With 5 seconds to go, he was edging closer to the net, but decided he wasn't going to make it to the hoop to score a layout. He paused where he was suddenly, and watched as some of the players from the other team kept on going, taking a moment to realize he stopped running. _That gets them every time._

Troy shot his hands in the air, and the ball flung out of his hands towards the square just above the basketball hoop. 3, 2, 1..._SWOOSH!_

Gabriella stood up in her seat and started bouncing up and down, squealing with her dance team, watching Troy from the court, his eyes shining with pride.

His teammates gathered him up into the air, bouncing him up and down, thanking him over and over for being on the team. Troy laughed as he held the game winning ball in the air, the thunderous applause getting louder and louder.

He searched the crowded room, for Gabriella seeing her cheering and jumping with Taylor, Sharpay, and Kelsi. He grinned…he knew she was so proud.

Gabriella's eyes slid to his, and they locked. They lost contact for a moment as Troy had been put down, but everybody suddenly rushed all over the places, hugging their families, friends, or girlfriends.

He shook hands with the coach for a moment, but then jogged his way towards Gabriella. Troy could tell a lot of people had stopped and was watching him, but he didn't care. Gabriella grinned, knowing he was coming towards her and he met her halfway.

They were both in the middle of the court, and the instant they met, their lips crashed together. They heard people applauding, but they made no move to break apart. Troy lifted Gabriella up off her feet, holding tightly onto her waist.

Their kiss turned passionate, and they finally broke off for air. "Congratulations, Troy. You must be extremely happy" Gabriella whispered, her forehead pressed against his.

Troy grinned back, "I am. I'm extremely happy: I have you, and that's all I can ever ask for. I won this game today, for you. I've decided to dedicate it to _you_" Troy spoked, and Gabriella felt tears coming down her cheeks.

He brushed them away quickly, and she giggled. "I feel so special" She joked, and they both chuckled.

Troy quickly replied, "That's because you _are_." Gabriella slowly broke out into the biggest smile in the world, as she leaned in to kiss him again.

_**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**_

_**OH MY GOSH. **__It's over!!! Well not technically, I still have an epilogue planned. So I hope you guys will like it :-) Anyways, I'll definitely be getting that out in LESS than a month this time…lol. That's because as soon as school lets out for the Summer, I'm gone for a week, because I'm going on a cruise to Mexico._

_WHOO HOO. So anyways…I have to go make other updates. A special thank you to EVERYONE who has reviewed this story…your reviews make me keep going. :-) Also, just a thank you to anyone who READ this._

_At least you're interested. Ha. Well I'm off!!!_

_**PLEASE REVIEW:-)**_


	13. Epilogue

**A/N: **_Hey guys! Sorry my updates have been strained, I've been so busy it's CRAZY. Anyways, I'm updating as much as I can , because I leave Saturday morning on my cruise! And tomorrow I'm spending all day packing sooo…_

_Oh yeah, and my story __**High School Never Ends **__is currently on HIATUS. Sorry-but I'm not liking it too much, and the ideas aren't flowing for me as much anymore. I may start up again later this Summer._

_With that said, let's enjoy the final chapter a.k.a EPILOGUE OF HE SHOOTS, SHE DANCES!!!!!_

_**PLEASE R&R!!!!**_

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**Epilogue**

"And that's how mommy and daddy realized they were meant for each other…the end."

30 year old Gabriella Montez said softly to Riley, her four year old daughter. She grinned at her, and quietly pushed a strand of darn brown hair from her daughter's eyes.

Riley giggled. "Mommy, you were silly!" She exclaimed, sitting up in her princess bed. "But I liked your other story better!"

Gabriella laughed but was cut off by someone else's deep laughter behind her. She looked up to see Troy standing there smirking at his family. Gabriella rolled her eyes, and felt Troy come sit on the bed next to her and kiss her head.

"You mean the story where mommy and daddy first met, and mommy came to East High?" Troy asked his daughter, and she nodded her head rapidly.

"Oh yes! This story mommy told me, you guys were too weird. Why couldn't you just say "I love you" to daddy, mommy? I tell you guys it every night!" She argued, jumping up and down slightly on her bed.

Gabriella and Troy just threw their heads back and laughed as they looked at each other. "Well Riles, you'll find out someday…once you fall in love with a great guy. Sometimes saying "I love you" can be hard" Gabriella told Riley.

Troy immediately added on, "But you aren't dating until you're 30!"

Gabriella slapped her husband over the head. "Troy!" She told him sternly, "Our daughter can start dating when we did…idiot" She murmured the last part under her breath.

"Mrs. Bolton, are you arguing with me? You know not to argue with the man of the house!" Troy joked, his eyes twinkling as he reached out to tickle Gabriella.

Gabriella giggled just like she did in high school, "Oh shut up. I don't want to hear it, just because you are the only guy in this house and you deal with a wife and a little daughter, doesn't mean you're loosing your manliness."

Troy chuckled and stopped tickling her. "Yeah you're right; but the price I pay for this life, could not get any better" He told her softly, smiling in her direction.

Gabriella grinned back and reached up to kiss Troy on the mouth. After a few seconds they both heard their daughter shrieking, "Ew!!!! Mommy and daddy, that's gross!"

Troy and Gabriella both broke apart and grinned over at Riley. "Oh you won't think it's gross when you fall in love Riley Smiley" Troy stated to her, hugging onto Gabriella tightly.

"Daddyyy…" Riley groaned and dragged out. Both her parents laughed and stood up, watching their daughter lie down in her bed and wrap the covers around her.

Taking this as her cue, Gabriella bent down and kissed her daughter on her forehead. "Goodnight sweetie" She told Riley then looked over at

"Night mommy" Riley rubbed her eyes tiredly, watching Gabriella walk out and shut the door quietly. She then heard her dad sigh happily and then grunt as he bent down to tuck Riley in.

"All righty then…I think you've had your fun tonight. Goodnight pumpkin; sweet dreams!" He told her, kissing her forehead and then her nose, before standing back up and walking towards the door.

"Hey daddy?" He stopped, and turned around to see Riley looking towards him. "I think you and mommy are the best couple ever."

Troy broke out into a grin. "You think? I think so too, Riles. Now go to sleep; see you in the morning pooh bear" He told her smiling, as he turned out the light and closed the door behind him.

Walking down the stairs, he saw his wife humming to a tune while cleaning the dishes and putting them away. Grinning to himself he walked over to her quietly and startled her as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her neck.

Gabriella grinned and stopped singing, as she reached over and turned off the faucet drying her hands with a towel quickly before turning around and wrapping her arms around Troy's neck.

Gently Troy bent down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Mmm…I'm tired Gabs" Troy said as he rested his forehead against hers and closing his eyes.

Gabriella laughed softly, "Aw man…then I guess you're too tired to play some one on one basketball with your lovely wife…" She trailed off and giggled at Troy's face as she watched his eyes shoot open.

"You serious? We haven't done that since high school…" Troy started, then drifted off into memories, and suddenly felt Gabriella's lips on his again.

Once they broke apart, Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Now are you going to stand there and dream off into fairytale land all night, or are we going to play the REAL game?" Gabriella asked impatiently.

Troy looked down at his girl and grinned, very amused at this. "After all these years, and you still think you can beat me Bolton?" Troy asked his wife, calling her by her married name.

Gabriella always felt her bubble inside when he started calling her that after their wedding. "Oh yeah…want to see who's better at shooting or scoring?" Gabriella raised her eyebrows at him, while grabbing both his hands and leading him out of the kitchen towards the backyard.

"Hm…I'll always be better at shooting…you'll probably always score…" Troy concluded, as Gabriella just squeezed his hands as they walked out onto the basketball court.

Gabriella stopped suddenly and pulled Troy close to her, still holding onto both his hands. She leaned into him where their lips were only centimeters apart, "Correction I believe our saying is He Shoots, She Dances."

Troy broke out into a smile and brought their lips a centimeter closer, "Very true Mrs. Bolton…always."

Their lips met, and suddenly the basketball game didn't mean so much to them anymore. As long as they had each other, Riley, and any new addition to their family they would add in the future, they knew their life was complete.

Gabriella never thought back on their rocky times ever again.

_**HSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSMHSM**_

_The end!!!! I hope you all very much enjoyed this story…I know I did! Again, so sorry the epilogue took so long. It took me a while to try and piece this thing together!_

_Everyone enjoy the start of Summer '07 and I'll be updating when I return from my trip!_

_**PLEASE REVIEWWW IT'LL MAKE ME REAL, REAL, REAL HAPPY. :-)**_


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